


Back in Black

by fluffehpenguin



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Amnesia, Big Bang Challenge, Canon-Typical Violence, Gore, Men In Black AU, Mix of Fluff and Angst, Multi, Slow Burn, symbrock big bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 06:03:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18867217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffehpenguin/pseuds/fluffehpenguin
Summary: Eddie Brock was a reporter, a journalist- and thus had little room for crackpot theories. Bigfoot wasn't real, couldn't be. Mothman was just a folktale for tourism. Aliens? More plausible than the last two.At least, that is until a man called Flash Thompson arrives on his doorstep, uprooting his life and throwing it in the trashcan. He is thrust back into his previous life as a Men in Black agent, with no recollection of such events occurring, his only clues to his lost memory being snippets that are gradually showing through the cracks. Even more bizarre is the fact that he is supposedly a previous, and one of the few surviving, hosts for an alien named Venom.With time running out, a muddled jumble of conflicting memories and a painfully confusing alien constantly insulting him with backhanded endearments, Eddie barely gets a moment to pry. Considering he’s seen those opalescent eyes in vivid detail within his dreams, Eddie knows there is so much more he has to figure out before the clock hits zero.





	Back in Black

**Author's Note:**

> holy hell, longest fic I've written and I even had some amazing artists to illustrate for it :oooo  
> This did have a lot of road bumps that really screwed me over, but I'm so pleased to finally present it!!
> 
> Huge thank you to destimushi and icarusinflight for organising it!!  
> Please look at this awesome art for this fic, as it's fantastic!! [Cocytus-cave](https://www.deviantart.com/cocytus-cave/art/Men-in-Black-Symbrock-798062422) and [Xhenoxis](https://kyan-kyan.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And to a very special Beta, Duckmoles, who saved me last minute. Thank you hon!!!

“Agent B... Agent B, reply or I’ll come beat your ass-”

“ _Jesus._ I copy, fuck. Can a man no longer eat a donut without risking being neutralised?” Eddie Brock huffed, popping his fingers to savour the last of the jam sticking to the pads.

“No, because you’re supposed to be focusing on the mission, which could risk a catastrophe due to you slacking caus’ you’re too busy eating a fucking donut,” Agent F hissed, feeling his cheeks rush with blood and barely contained anger. _Always your fault, Eddie. Always caus’ you can’t keep your mouth shut. One,_ One _, mistake and this is what I get: Unending criticism._

“It’s _one_ alien, F,” he growled, shades glinting in the morning sun. “Don’t get that tone with me, Brock,” the elder easily rebutted. The words were mostly lost on Eddie as the suspected murderer strolled out the Krispy Kreme to his left.

“Got sights,” he rushed, gripping the bag that was currently filled with stuffed treats that were both a cover and a way for him to relax. Yet, the apricot jam was still threatening to make a reappearance. He’d traded the typical black suit for shorts and a simple tank top in the heat, weapons tucked into every pocket he had available. “Making a move. Keep your sniper aimed at them,” he stated, slipping off the wall as the stranger began to pass. He purposefully knocked into them. He felt his chest clench as his donuts fell to the pavement, one spilling out and permanently tainting itself in bog water.

“Aw, shit-”

“Sorr- that’s just great, fantastic,” Eddie gritted out his teeth, rubbing his neck as he stared at the lost comrade. He was going to regret using it as a decoy.

“Ah man, that... that fucking sucks. It looked like a good one too,” the supposed human sympathised, leaning down to pick up the discarded packet.

“Ah... it’s just a donut,” Eddie said, trying to act nonchalant as the guy passed the bag over. Eddie clapped his hand on the other’s shoulder as the precious treats fell into his hands once again.

“Thanks... hey, you aren’t looking too good,” he mused, shifting his palm just enough to have the needle slip past the skin that was hiding the true form, smile still easy. He blinked as the other collapsed, stumbling with him.

_Your turn,_   _._

**d̷͉̩̜́̓̔̽̂f̵̡̰̱̘͓̫̹̳̀̌͌̆̀s̶͍̭̰̖̦͌̆ĵ̴̢̯̪͓̠̣͍̬͙̹͈͙̅̀͛̾̉͒̀̂͐͗̒̌͘͜͝ͅf̶͓̹̲̜̤͖̗͍̩͓̪̰̪͗̂̄k̴̢̦̯͈̪͈̜̗̯͖͖͓̰̐b̸͓͋͒**

 

 

Eddie woke, gasping and clutching at his chest.

His dreams always confused him -always feeling too familiar to be anything but memories. Yet, they couldn’t be. They just couldn’t. He had a plethora of actual memories that said otherwise. Like finally asking Anne out after he’d accidentally kissed her on their New Years trip during second year college. Like when he had hounded enough people to lose everything- poked the rabid bear with too many corporate heads. Like when he smelt Anne’s perfume lingering on his jacket after ruining both of their lives  Eddie had always been thorough with his papers and research.

So how could his mind be anything but correct?

He curled up a little bit tighter from where he sat, his ears finally popping as the pressure in his jaw released. Slumped against the bed and sheets tangled between his calves, Eddie merely let his mind catch up with the frightening pain of the dream. Getting up was a chore, but a very necessary one. He’d already been late once this week and his boss didn’t take kindly to his tardiness.

Barely righting himself as his legs came loose from the sheets when he tried to walk, he trotted through the tiny apartment to the kitchen. He made himself feel a little bit better about his eating habits by slapping copious amounts of plain yogurt into his mouth, clutching at the tub like a man starved. Mixing it with the mint from his toothpaste left him smacking his tongue against the roof of his tongue before heading towards the door.

A familiar routine he loved dearly.

Yet, it was quickly interrupted when he yanked open the door to be greeted with a man.

A man dressed head to toe in a stifling black suit.

“Uh… Can I help you?” Eddie asked, shuffling the strap cutting across his chest.

“God… You let yourself go,” the stranger huffed, a snarky grin on his expression. Eddie snorted, eyebrows furrowing and a sort of indignation flashing across his features.

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but I need to go-”

“Name’s Thompson… Flash Thompson,” Flash greeted, even as Eddie shouldered past him, barely catching the guy’s name.

“Whelp, nice meeting you! _Jackass_ ,” he mumbled under his breath, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was only aware of it for a second before the footsteps behind him became obnoxious. “Listen Flash- I don’t find this fucking funny,” Eddie hissed, turning sharply to glare into strangely familiar blue eyes.

A million-dollar smile spread across the blonde's features. “Glad to see you haven’t changed, Eddie,” Flash chuckled, his hands coming to rest on his hips. His fingers were twitching. The guy was nervous.

“I have places to be, get lost!” Eddie huffed, his mind trying to place what seemed wrong about this encounter. With that, he began storming down the stairs, ripping a hand through his hair as he glanced at the watch ticking ever so fast. _If I cut a few corners I_ could _make it_... He paused and thought hard, the nag at the edges of his consciousness making his ears buzz.

He turned just as Flash barrelled into him.

Yelping, Eddie barely managed to throw out an arm to catch them both on the stairs, his head just grazing the carpets that were cleaned around a century ago. He howled, thrashing his legs til he found purchase on a spluttering Flash. “Goddamn it- get down, you idiot!” The stranger yelled, stuttering as the breath was knocked from his lungs with Eddie’s well place jab.

“You’re a fucking maniac!” Eddie hissed, attempting to shove away the other, only to be yanked off the floor. It was then that he saw the thick slices through the plaster on the wall. He squeaked as fingers firmly closed around his throat, hands flying up to the simple choke hold. A squeeze left spots swirling in front of his vision, briefly obscuring Flash’s stunned expression. It was quick to shift. Even so, Eddie felt no safer –probably more doomed, really- when a metal flute was held up by his other assaulter.

“Drop him! You know the laws.”

“ **Not a chance.”**

The grip on Eddie’s throat curled an inch tighter. He frantically waved an arm as he struggled to wheeze in air. Near methodically, Flash held the flute up to his lips. As he blew, the whole thing unfolded. Valves compressed and funnelled the sound, an ear-piercing screech tearing through the delicate instrument.

Eddie’s knees hit the floor first, crumpling as he attempted breathing again. His lungs whistled a few tones lower than the flute, managing to scrape himself together and crawl away from... from...

 

The thing writhing at his feet was not human. Viscous tendrils lashed about, barely holding together white slashes across a vomit-coloured visage. “What the fuck, _what the fuck_?” he squeaked, blaming the noise on his hurt throat. Flash stepped in front of him and with pop, a dash of light tore the thing to pieces. 

He heaved out shocked breaths, eyes wide and frightened.

“Alright... That was _not_ how I was hoping this would go,” Thompson mumbled, shoving a pistol back into his pocket. Eddie didn’t remember him drawing it.

“Let’s try this again... My name’s Flash Thompson. You used to know me as a close friend and as an apprentice. You, _Agent B_ , were once a protector of Earth in the intergalactic world.”

Eddie’s jaw remained open, unable to stop a shocked chuckle as he struggled to comprehend the bizarre scene in front of him.

“You, Eddie Brock, worked for the Men in Black... And we need your help one last time.”

 

 

Eddie didn’t have much choice after that.

His mind was still on pause, stuck on the growl by his head of a creature that should not have existed. Staring out the tinted windows, he sighed. Flash shifted gears, eyes barely drifting over his friend’s face.

“I just want to say sorry.”

“Huh?” Eddie sat up at that, frowning as he looked to the supposed Agent.

“I’m sorry… for pulling you away, for having to have all this responsibility again- I mean after everything that happened…” the younger male breathed, a burden resting in his blue eyes. Eddie licked his lips, eyebrows furrowing.

“What happened exactly?” he asked, the many crushing questions making his head spin.

Flash let out a weak huff, shaking his head.

“Where do I start? Wait- um, so… that thing that grabbed you? That’s a Symbiote. We’ve only really dealt with one before and this time it went very differently. While they are dangerous, they are usually passive if they take on the right hosts- “

“Wait, wait- _Hosts?_ Like in _Alien_?”

Flash had the nerve to chuckle at that, a sort of mischievous grin pulling at his lips.

“Not often, they seem to prefer symbiosis, hence _Symbiotes_. Either way, you used to be the… expert on them when you were an Agent. Now there’s a rogue group that landed four days ago and murdered a team of three Agents. Right now, you’re one of our closest hopes.”

Eddie blinked owlishly at the other, mouth opening as any and every baffling question he could conceive flooded into his head. He closed his eyes and focused on only one.

“Why _me_? I… I don’t remember any of this,” he complained, flinching as a car horn screeched in their ears.

“ _Ah…_ When you meet them, you’ll understand,” Flash assured, pausing as he found a secluded parking area, tapping a fancy looking badge against a sensor. Eddie wasn’t sure he wanted to know who “they” were. It was a simple part of town. Busy and somewhere no one questioned if a person or two went missing.

“Alright. Don’t take it all in at once, but do enjoy it. Not as sure if it’s more magical the first or second time you see it,” Flash mused, patting Eddie’s arm before climbing out, the disheveled man following hesitantly.

Walking into an office building left him a little disorientated with the contrast of the outside and inside. Outside, the building was on its last legs, paint starting to flake to expose the concrete. Inside, however, it was polished chrome, pristine like it had been finished a day ago. Eddie marvelled at the size, the roof stretching far above his head. The agent was grinning at him.

“That’s not even the best part. Come on, the proper facility is even better.”

Eddie was herded to a metal door, Flash’s hand strong but gentle on his back. He paused as it slid open to a glass encased elevator, his mind short circuiting as it descended.

Things crawled, strode, oozed, walked, and it was suddenly _very_ difficult to not believe the hundreds of UFO sightings that were seen as hoaxes, as something so mind bogglingly outlandish that it couldn’t be real. Eddie, however, was currently staring at the impossible and he didn’t know what to feel. A millipede with four massive legs and crystals jutting out its back clambered across the space, barely avoiding what looked like a blob fish with a tiny hat on. Turning his head a few centimetres greeted him with the vision of a faceless thing, constantly shifting into geometric shapes, yet hands with too many fingers remained a constant as they plucked at a harp. A little scoot to the left and he saw dolphins with too many eyes and robes flowing off their bodies leaping through the air, their chatter even managing to pierce through the glass. If he listened hard enough, he swore he could hear British accents.

All the while, Flash remained fixated on his previous mentor’s expression, delighting in the mix of glee and horror in the reporter’s eyes. “So? What do you think?” he asked, giving Eddie a beam of a smile. The older man paused, opened his mouth, went considerably pale before just nodding incoherently. Belatedly, Flash realised that this might be a bit much for the poor fellow.

The last straw was when they actually reached the bottom and the doors dinged open. Each head, eye, antenna, vague facial feature and nose turned to the two humans. A rising chord of “Eddie?” each in various languages, dialects and accents roared into the tiny cylindrical space.

Said human chuckled a little manically, putting a hand on his head as it rang and throbbed. “Guess I was popular-“ The man promptly passed out, the agent next to him having to awkwardly fumble with keeping him from hitting the floor too hard.

“C-Can someone please get Anne?!”

Tip tapping in in high rise heels was the woman herself, papers clutched under an arm and her hair tied back away from her face. “Flash, you’re late- oh god, why is he passed out?” she asked, sighing as she promptly passed on the papers to a centaur-like creature with a lobster as its lower body instead of a horse. She helped him support Eddie’s other side as he moaned in his fitful moment of unconsciousness.

“It’s a lot to take in, Weying. He isn’t used to it nor do I think he was very prepared for it,” the other agent mused, taking most of the weight, with Anne’s heels most likely starting to kill her with the time of day.

“The board can never do this slowly, can they?” she huffed, the two of them managing to drag him further in and away from the bustle of Earth’s Intergalactic hub. They opted for a wheelchair from the infirmary to get Brock where they needed to be. The sooner this was over with, the better. Neither party were sure of this plan concocted by the board director, but if it was truly their only hope- well, they didn’t have much choice.

Coming to a halt at the prison section, Anne pulled out her ID badge and flashed it along with her fingerprint on the sensor. It took a few moments for the system to confirm her identification before the three proceeded down the hall.

 

It was haunting, this cell.

He remembered nightmares of this place, of how many pills he had to down before he stifled the connection with the alien inside it. Walking in, the temperature dropped significantly, yet Flash wasn’t shivering out of the cold. It was from looking at the terror they had created.

So odd that Venom seemed so harmless in a glass jar centred in a room made to dwarf them, make them feel powerless. Yet anyone who came in contact with the symbiote knew it was nothing of the sort.

The ink barely shifted, hardly reacted to any new presence that entered its domain.

Anne was currently splashing some water onto Eddie’s face, the poor man sputtering as he came to. “Wha-? Huh, what the sh- Annie?”

“I’ll explain later. Flash tells me you agreed,” she mused, patting the man’s scruffy cheek, checking over him, concern hidden behind a furrowed brow.

“I- uh… I guess? I mean I don’t know if this is just a fever dream,” he huffed, glancing behind her shoulder and into the cell opposite them.

“Are you even sure the goo is alive?” he asked, managing to get his trembling hand under control after the initial shock. Dealing with the situation was mostly Eddie just assuring himself he’d be opening his eyes to a dull room soon enough.

Flash paused, looking torn as he continued to stare into the padded room.

“Probably. They’re just tired,” he sighed, leaning against the glass and losing himself in the memories that persisted.

Eddie raised an eyebrow, but didn’t argue, leaning on Annie (as he always use to), to stand up and steady his legs after collapsing. Brain rebooted and starting to take in the situation, he let his ex lead him to a seemingly seamless glass door, blinking as it slid open.

He stumbled into the cell, only realising how tired he was until he moved away from Anne, nearly collapsing as his untied shoelaces tangled up his ankles. He paused, flustered as he attempted one last pleading look at glass that only showed his dishevelled clothes and terrified expression. He nearly leapt into the air as the container peeled back.

The alien was quick to spread itself, as if stretching its legs and rolling its shoulders, black leaking off the edges and nearly boiling with pent up energy.

Eddie truly jumped, however, when a voice tore the peace in three different volumes of rumbling and gravelly.

**“You are an imposter. Leave.”**

He looked about frantically before pointing at himself. He watched the puddle roil, the edges flowing out as if they were roots.

**“Yes, you. You are not Eddie.”**

He frowned, raising an eyebrow. “I am _an_ Eddie… Listen, I don’t even know why I’m here, please can you just do something so we can both, uh, be left alone?” he practically begged, running a hand through the peach fuzz of a fresh haircut from last week. A single tendril rose from the pile, tilting ever so slightly.

**“Hmm… fine. Come closer**.”

This wasn’t the _ideal_ approach, but arguing with a pile of ink that might have the prowess to kill him made his choices quite clear cut. Eddie let his sneakers squeak on the floor as he scooted ever closer.

**“Closer.”**

Another few steps.

**_“Closer.”_ **

A few shuffles-

Gleaming gums freshly slathered by saliva snapped by the tip of his nose, the visage before him nearly grinning from cheek to cheek, black liquid bubbling and anxious to keep a form. Eddie felt his breath evade him, jaw trembling in shock. He only came to life when a hand that nearly dwarfed his head was raised to his face, ducking out of the touch. He stumbled backwards, watching the alien’s features contort into a shockingly upset expression. Faster than Eddie thought possible, a tendril lashed out, gripping his ankle before sinking into his skin. The rest seemed to follow suit.

_It wasn’t right._

The cells meshed perfectly. The DNA that Venom had longed to dig their fibres back into was exactly the same. Yet everything felt different. Too different.  

This body wasn’t toned, with the slightest of fat from too many treats and “just one more”s. It was layered from late night beers and mixing yeast with sugar. The hair wasn’t tussled from a tangle or two, lined with sweat. This was just uncaring, lined with grease. This body was a disgusting perversion of their partner.

Venom curled tightly around the cells, a few popping with the pressure. Instantly, the so-called Eddie dropped to his knees, a choked noise slipping through his lips. “Uh,  _guys_? This doesn’t feel-  _huRk._ ” the confused human suddenly coughed up a chunk of blood, sinew dripping down his chin.  

Venom broiled just above Eddie’s skin, ink viciously lashing out in curling arches.  **“Are you pleased, yet? Supposed Eddie? The two traitors behind the glass?”** Eddie jolted in shock, grabbing at his head as the voice erupted over his own thoughts, layering themselves internally and externally.

**“We will tear him, _limb from limb_ , til you learn! Til you finally just give us what we ask!” ** 

From within the tar-like bubble, Eddie quickly spoke up. 

“Don’t I get a say in this? I’d like to keep my limbs attached, please,” he squeaked, stumbling back as the darkness retreated slightly only to form that grinning monster in front of him.

**“No.”**

“Can you  _please_  get me out? Dismemberment wasn’t a part of this deal! Hello? Flash, Annie,  _anyone?_!” His voice cracked on the last syllable. Venom paused, body curling into a massive shadow that leered down at a painfully familiar face. A massive claw was raised, viscous but deadly.

The next moment passed quickly.

“You touch him and I will kill you, Venom.”

The alien’s entire form seized up, body contorting to face Flash. The man was furious, that much they could tell. He must have rushed in when he expected them to hurt the imposter. **“Dear old Flash… You think I am truly that cruel?”** they asked, slamming a fist down right next to Eddie’s thigh. The man’s breath heaved, body trembling as his mind struggled to comprehend what was occurring. As he stumbled up to try run from them, they laughed.

It was bitter and cruel.

Eddie cried out as they forcibly pulled themselves from the cells, angry that their body attempted to cling. Yet, just as they had gotten half-way out of their host and half-way back to another eternity stuck in a container, they found it.

Clearly, Eddie found it too as they pulled at it at the same time.

The symbiote screamed, a shrill and ear rattling thing, Venom unravelling quite suddenly. Vaguely they heard Eddie’s jaw cracking as he howled in pain. Their body convulsed before coming to loom over their host, who was suffering from secondhand pain, leering down at Flash who stared at Eddie in shock.

A blaster rested in his palm, red from the amount of pressure and heat of the weapon. “You dare fucking hurt him and I will  _blow you to pieces!_ ” he shrieked in retaliation. Even though the warning shot was painful, their body entirely returned to their host, forming a grip to hold the human closer. The poor man was sweating so badly and his teeth were chattering from shock.

Venom, however, was perplexed. 

Flash was the kind to risk himself for others, but not to jeopardise a mission. They knew that much after being bonded to him for some time. Yet he had not only threatened them but had followed through with that threat. That’s not even mentioning the tangible thread in the _possibly_ Eddie’s mind that was old and tattered, but very much still there. Their mind reeled, caught between all the lies and that weakening spark of hope.  

They slowly began to search. 

A scar with a neat little cross on Eddie’s knee was the remainder of an old wound. The nerve damage ran deep. They remembered patching it up but struggling to replicate the delicate connections. It had been messy and their own body was tired. Eddie says it was nice to have war wounds. A reminder.  

His eyes were an exact replica of the melanin in their partner's. That rare shade of blue they had complimented many a time. A familiar inking sat on Eddie’s left hip. It was fading and he hadn’t looked after it right, but he always said he’d loved its imperfections. 

They curled tighter around the DNA linking the body together.  

**_So different, yet so familiar…_**  

They had to know. 

Prying into the other’s mind lead to a fog. It was muddled, and there were so many walls that Venom struggled to navigate. Like the rest of Eddie, it was painfully familiar but so alien that they were struggling to understand this new consciousness.

 Eddie whimpered and clawed at his head, curling inwards as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. “Venom, stop what you’re doing right now,” Flash ordered, waiting for a response as his anxiety rose. 

None came. 

“ _Venom_ , stop acting like a child and get out of him now-!” He sputtered at the end of his yell, however, when the jet-black ink coalesced across Eddie’s skin and clothes, enveloping the man. Flash’s jaw dropped open in shock, stumbling backwards as the creature before him easily overshadowed the man. Venom was deadly enough without a host, but in this form, they could snap Flash like a twig.

Standing a good 7 feet tall, Venom roared in agony.

**“He’s all so wrong- what did you do? His memories… as a child they’re the same but-"** they screamed, no blend with Eddie’s gruff but kind voice. It was jagged and angry- filled with fear. The creature crumpled, hugging themselves and hiding their face in the crook of their arm.

“He was neutralised. You must have been affected considering how _you_ can’t even remember,” Flash tried, leaning down to place a hand on their shoulder, “Please, you have to help us.”

Venom paused, slowly unfurling from their crouched position to sprawl onto floor, eyes searching the empty walls. They had known these walls for lonely years, betrayed again and again. Even then, they could barely remember snatches of their last few months with their partner in crime.

“Venom… please? Please just do it for me,” Flash implored, slinking down to put a hand on the alien’s shoulder.

The pause was long, unsure. Flash knew they were thinking it over, pondering lifetimes of information to come to a decision.

**“On one condition…”** They held up a claw that was the width of Flash’s wrist, still facing away from everything like they could hide their host away from it all. It was childish. Yet, Flash found it endearing in a sense.

He nodded slowly, stroking along a living exoskeleton, smiling as strands tangled with his hands. “I’ll do my best to make it happen,” he murmured.

**“We want to never be parted with Eddie ever again.”**

Flash stiffened, swallowing thickly before sighing, his nodding becoming more frantic.

“I’ll do my best- “

**“No. Either you _all_ promise or we sever the connection with Eddie and never talk again,”**

It was strange that the prisoner was currently holding Flash hostage, pinning the poor man in a difficult place. Not only was the board _definitely_ going to disagree to those terms, but Eddie… Flash was essentially signing over Eddie who had no clue of the close relationship that had been erased from his mind. Thompson was stuck in a bad place, with both options having some sort of repercussions on his part.

Unfortunately, their third option had run out long ago and Flash was too much of a softie for this.

“Alright… I’ll persuade the board.”

For the first time in a long time, Flash saw that glint of uneven shark’s teeth shifting into a beam of a smile.

**“Also, Eddie’s unconscious.”**

Flash’s own smile dropped.

 

Coming to, Eddie found himself reeling, head swaying side to side as he tried to get his senses to return. Two hands came to gently calm him, making sure he didn’t sustain whiplash with how he was jerking about.

“Look who’s awake.” Flash’s voice caused another spike of pain to spear into his temples, groaning low with a heavy tongue. Eddie licked his dry lips, sitting up and gradually peeling back his eyelids.

He nearly fainted right on the spot when a lanky alien with too many eyes and hooves for hands walked out his cubicle.

“Oh, _fuck_ it… it wasn’t a fucking dream,” Eddie breathed shakily, his arms starting to mimic how his voice quavered.

**Course not.**

Eddie jumped, looking around frantically.

**Left- no, a little right- maybe a bit up?**

His gaze kept searching or the source of the voice, Flash’s narrowed eyes growing wide before he huffed. “Venom…” he warned, a hand coming to Eddie’s palm to give a quick squeeze. A snicker ricocheted in Eddie’s mind, his ears ringing from waking up disoriented and the tone scrambling his senses.

**“Fine.”**

Eddie shrieked at the black visage that coalesced from his arm, once again very aware of phantom claws thumping down on his thigh. Flash placed his hands atop Eddie’s shoulders, the other male blinking owlishly at the alien slime hovering above the bed. Flash risked a look, expecting a reaction that would match Eddie’s. Oddly enough, Venom’s expression remained blank. They even looked more annoyed than upset.

**“For fuck’s sake, you can’t keep acting like that when I show up,”** they huffed, clearly exasperated as they condensed the terrifying rows of teeth to more of a blob. **“You were much less of a loser before they neutralised you.”**

Eddie’s expression changed from shocked fear to shocked disbelief.

“Did I just get… insulted by an alien?” he asked, glancing rapidly from Venom to Flash.

**“No, it was a compliment for how stupid you can be- of _course_ it was an insult! What have you been stuffing your head with while we were gone?”** They crowded closer, a tendril splitting off the main link to poke Eddie’s chest harshly, the grin returning but in more of a deadly kitten kinda sharp.

Eddie, flustered and out of his element, merely slumped back against the pillows, eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline.

“I- I, um-“

**“Articulate, Eddie.”**

“I-I’m a journalist- at least I think I am- was?” He looked to Flash, a little overwhelmed with this whole situation. The white cuts in the abyss of a colour widened, Venom’s head tilting. He frowned and scratched at the base of his neck as it tingled, grumbling softly as memories he didn’t know he had  rapidly passed by his vision.

**“Even now you couldn’t stop trying to bring down bigger fish only to get gobbled up. What a shocker.”**

Eddie quickly assumed the alien was fluent in sarcasm at this point. “Alright, Vee, no need to be so patronising,” Flash mused, running a hand over the head that fit into his palm. The symbiote wriggled, form vibrating as an intense purr rattled Eddie’s lungs and heart in turn.

**“Merely banter… besides, I’ve been locked up for, what? 4 years?”** Venom stated bluntly, no malice being truly conveyed. Yet Eddie felt a flush of wild, untamed anger briefly brush up against his mind. Flash seemed to deflate at those words, hand falling to the hospital bed.

Eddie frowned, staring at the thing in front of him. “Why…?” he questioned softly, still taken aback by the sudden changes in his life. All the new information was making his headache worse. At the mere thought, however, the pressure building under his skin vanished, leaving him feeling much clearer.

**“Who knows? It’s not like we’re a vicious alien with a penchant for phenylethylamine,”** they huffed, eyes curling into crescent moons. They glanced away from their host, a flicker of nerves passing by Eddie’s emotions.  He couldn’t understand the other’s consciousness and the way it rested on his own. It was like being draped and stifled by a heavy blanket in the middle of the summer. Flash sighed, eyes catching with the symbiote’s.

Just in that moment, someone burst in through the curtains, hand clutching a clipboard that was littered with writings and musings. Eddie felt his whole body fall limp at the sight of another human, especially since the man gave him such a broad smile that it lit up the room. “Oh, Eddie! I don’t believe we’ve met before,” the brunette mused, holding out a hand that managed to give his own grip a run for its money. “I’m Dr. Dan Lewis. I’ve found your writings most fascinating,” he piped up, and Eddie’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Sorry, I… I don’t remember what I wrote on- “

“I’ve read both your writings on symbiotes and your journal articles! You really are quite a man of many talents. It’s not often that I see a living host with Venom- they’re usually quite fussy,” Dan stated cheerfully, Eddie’s blooming pride quickly wilting under a sense of unease. He felt a bristle that ran underneath his skin, wrapping around his bones and almost threatening to break the delicate cells.

Venom’s reverberating growl had the doctor chuckling weakly. “Alright, I get it- Sensitive topic,” he mused, taking a moment to observe the IV currently diving into Eddie’s skin, checking over his clipboard once more. “All in all, you seem fine. A few irregularities in your chemical balance will probably throw you off for a while, but you should be fine,” Dan explained, patting the patient’s leg. “Venom will probably sort out the rest, but if you two are having issues please come see me and I’ll try my best to help.”

Flash nodded, an easy smile spreading across his face. **“We’ll be fine… thank you Dr. Lewis, you may leave now,”** the alien practically commanded. Even with the terse wording, Dan remained all sunshine and positivity, waving before exiting.

**“Now… about that mission?”**

 

 

Eddie found himself being escorted straight to the weaponry room, protesting as Venom continued to lecture him and make comments.

“Stop! Fuck, I don’t understand what you’re trying to do,” he mumbled, fiddling hopelessly with what was apparently a plasma gun- well, according to the voice pervading his thoughts. Venom was attempting to help. Yet they both were growing increasingly frustrated with one another as ink kept coalescing over Eddie’s hands to shift them correctly, but then he would struggle to keep a hold of the thing, resisting Venom’s idle removal of autonomy. His fingers would grow too thick or his movements were too sharp, proving that aiming was near impossible with the two.

**Stop being such a stubborn prick and let me help,** they eventually roared, causing Eddie to panic and tremble into a mess of nerves, dropping the gun only for it to misfire. He groaned hopelessly, flopping to the floor and covering his face with both hands. Flash had been called away after Eddie had been discharged. He desperately wished for his friendly face again. It seemed like Thompson had a lot more information on himself than _he_ did. In fact, the man seemed to know a lot more than he was letting Eddie know. Once again, an ache of emotion fled into his stomach, curling it tightly.

A fit of desaturated reds and vibrant blues shoved against the back of his mind.

Venom went silent, Eddie wrapping his arms around the painful area. It took him all of ten seconds to realise it was jealousy stirred with a vicious sense of despair.

Venom rapidly fled from his skin, Eddie’s palms breaking out in a cold sweat. He looked to the discarded gun, his quivering fingers barely finding the trigger. He merely held it, examining the strange configuration. He sighed and stood, finding himself unbalanced and light-headed. Before he fell over, the pins and needles that were raising goose bumps on his skin anchored his joints and tightened his muscles. He blinked in surprise, running a hand over his suddenly steady calves.

**You’re welcome.**

It was stilted, standoffish at the worst, but it was a confirmation. Eddie licked his lips, let himself breathe and turned to the untouched dummy. He held up the weapon, not attempting to still his hands.

“Hey… could you- um, could you help me?” he asked sheepishly, squeezing his eyes closed as if bracing for a punishment. Instead he got an endearing whisper of a peachy red, yellow sunshine quick to follow. The sparks under his skin let him relax, near intrinsic rather than forced. He breathed out.

Next thing there was a massive scorch mark in the hessian fabric.

There was a wash of pride and satisfaction, overshadowing a murmur of hope.

**Let’s try the bazooka next.**

 

 

Flash swallowed thickly as he stood outside the councillor’s meeting room. It was one thing to disobey one order from a group of higher ups. It was an entirely other issue of making a promise that defied a unanimous decision among the group. The door swung open, Flash instantly yanking his hand down from where he had been gnawing on his nails. Walking in, he kept his head up. He exchanged a glance with Agent W, or Anne as close friends knew her. As two of Eddie’s caretakers, it was no surprise that the previous lawyer was standing next to him for this trail of fire.

“Eugene Thompson… You had such a simple task.” The voice was honey on the ears, except it had been burnt into ash on the stove and left to collect flies. The man standing next to the director held various papers in hand, lips pursed. “In fact, the rest of the board admits that maybe sending you as Edward’s chaperone was not the wisest of choices, considering your close relationship,” Carlton Drake mused, fingers restlessly drumming on the table with his free hand.

“I’d like to see you deal with the Venom symbiote as well as Flash can,” Anne was quick to pipe up, face remaining blank except for the spark in her eyes.

The papers crumpled for a moment.

“I’d like to see you prevent the two from going into a relapse and causing havoc again,” Flash countered, starting to rise from his seat. A firm hand was placed on his shoulder as a gaze that would make many a person tremble fixating on Carlton.

“I’ve worked with Eddie and Venom for a very long time, Carlton. While they are not rabid beasts, they are increasingly dangerous the longer they stay bonded,” Agent F, or Nick Fury, leant back in his chair and seemed to ponder his next thought. Everyone shifted uneasily, some sharing very telling glances with one another, Flash and Anne included.

“There is a valuable reason we kept them apart after dear Princess Thrien’s death, one that indefinitely soothed the masses and kept a war from breaking out. However, we cannot deny the effect this has had on the Venom symbiote,” Fury continued, fingers splayed out against one another.

“We are running out of time, but we do know of symbiotes’ weaknesses at least. Yet we all know that any alien who has any right to be as cunning as a symbiote means trouble, especially since they are pack members,” he huffed, running a hand over his face.

“The Venom symbiote has gone on rampages before, with or without Brock involved. We’ve essentially given them the freedom to roam the world as they see fit! Surely there’s another way to deal with the other symbiote-?”

“Venom is a person, for fu- heaven’s sake!’ Flash burst, shoulders bristling as his fists balled at his sides. He was tired of hearing two of his previously closest friends be berated to nothing more than cogs meant to turn the machine. “You’ve also dragged Eddie out of his life, completely unaware of the situation _and_ interrogated Venom for 4 years. They aren’t some- some science experiment! They know that you are _using_ their connection with Eddie,” he accused, crossing his arms over his chest as his anger flared up. A reassuring touch to his shoulder had his gaze turning to Anne, letting his mood simmer down.

“We knew that Venom would not have helped unless we gave something in return. The least we can do after the… _incident_ is return that part to them. It is our fault that we are in this situation,” Anne stated, eyes never leaving Fury’s expression as she spoke. The fear that pushed against the agent’s judgement was not only worry over themselves but what would happen to Eddie and his partner.

Fury ran a hand over his face, one eye closed as his brow furrowed into familiar creases. “Don’t expect me to fall to emotional turmoil, Agent W. I’ve known them for longer than you both. However, we do hold some responsibility for the state of the Venom sy- of Venom. It is not entirely ours, but I can say we made some massive missteps with their treatment after separation,” he continued, Flash feeling his stomach twist as he thought of the ‘missteps.’

Bloody containment rooms, hearing them scream and cry for their host, hearing those shrill sounds reach a crescendo in a baptism of frequencies and matches only to go deathly silent. He would never erase the memory of Venom’s final communication until two hours ago. Eddie’s face swirling and distorted in features clearly fading, ink dull and alive. He remembered Anne shaking her head ‘no.’ He remembered how Venom had merely gone still, sentience seemingly lost.

He tried not to linger too long on the memories. Especially since he had bonded with the alien a year prior to their fall from grace and after Eddie was pulled from them.

He tried not to think of the nightmares. Eddie snorting up streams of blood, serrated teeth all broken. Eyes that swam red around blues that cried out for help. Watching it all go slack, arms crumpling and the baby blues that rolled back in their sockets. The helplessness, the loneliness that followed for hours after Flash woke up.

They were never his nightmares. They were always Venom’s.

“- can’t remember. Eddie has changed- a lot.” Anne’s voice finally cut through the daydream turned sour, Thompson coming back from his delve into memories.

“We are aware of this and your… rather _unprofessional_ relationship with Eddie,” Carlton was quick to quip, Annie’s cheeks dusting a rosy gold. Flash rolled his eyes, hands folding behind his back.

“Give them a chance,” Flash implored, glancing about the room. “Even if we wanted to split them, doing so would result in Venom closing themselves off for all eternity or going on a rampage. If they learn that I could not uphold my promise, well…”

The statement hung in the boardroom, silence befitting the heavy decision.

But in the end, Fury didn’t have any more cards to play.

“Fine. We agree to Venom’s terms… as long as they uphold their end of the bargain.”

 

Eddie couldn’t describe the feeling. The alien resting above his sternum was wriggling about, the black ooze bubbling off his skin and making distinct _popping_ noises. Flash was standing nearby, his smile gentle and distinctly amused.

After spending time blowing up dummies and playing with the gadgets all around the room, the two had settled, Eddie managing to fall asleep on the cold floor while Venom watched over their host. His head only just managed to miss the door to the room, Flash having stepped inside to find the pair to deliver the news.

Unfortunately, his hand didn’t.

After a moment of Eddie howling and Flash apologising profusely, Venom patched up the scraped skin in a rush, easing the pain with a little manipulation of the neurons and blood flow. Flash took the time to explain the conditions, taking out his phone to quickly record a verbal confirmation from the symbiote. After that, well...

**“They truly agreed?** **We can finally live in peace?”** Venom asked for the twelfth time, their form weaving between Eddie’s arms, around his neck and even his legs.

“For the last time, _yes_ , Vee. But you do have someone to ask,” Flash mused, his expression faltering as he met Eddie’s eyes. The joy soured, the liquid previously arching off of him now subdued, careful and fearful.

“I… I don’t remember anything, Venom. I didn’t know I was even a fucking _secret agent_ until four hours ago,” he mumbled, rubbing at his arms and shuffling his feet uncomfortably. The ink deflated, dripping off his forearms and disappearing before it hit the floor.

“But…”

A wave passed up from his ankle to the tips of his hair, eyes widening at the surge of interest and hope. “I can give it a shot… see how it works out?” Eddie tried, fiddling with his fingers as he ran a hand through his hair. He squeaked as that familiar tendril appeared to butt up against the underside of his chin, a thick rumble shaking the air as Venom trilled.

**“We’ll be the best symbiote, promise,”** they murmured.

Eddie could only smile at the all encompassing warmth and the swirl of pink and indigo that lovingly stroked at his mind.

Flash nudged Eddie’s shoulder. “Come on. We need to suit you up-” before Flash could even finish, Venom wrapped around Eddie’s frame. The blazer was snug, but gave plenty of space to maneuver, pants lingering just at his ankles, not a millimeter off. To say the least, it was the most comfortable and well-fitted suit Eddie had ever worn.

“Holy shit,” he breathed, running his hands over the fabric interwoven with his cells and bioptics. The alien let out a wheeze of a laugh, the stitches surging up to still his wandering fingers.

**Tickle us again and we’ll remove ourselves _and_ your clothes,** the symbiote warned, all play with strokes of clementine along his vision. Eddie was starting to get used to the coding of emotions within the vibrant colours, finding that they were a clearer indicator than digging around at that thread in the back of his mind.

Eddie chuckled, pulling away and raising his arms in defence. “Won’t do it again, especially if you can keep this up,” he mused, plucking at the collar of the pitch black undershirt, turning this way and that to see how the light bent around the material. Besides the odd shimmer, it passed well enough.

Flash grinned, a hand curled under his chin as he admired the familiar material. “Haven’t aged a day, you two,” he huffed, a fond but almost tired expression filling out the lines of his face.

“Now… who’s ready to catch a rogue murderous alien?”

 

 

_Really? A crop circle?_ Eddie groaned internally, rocking back on his heels as his head fell to the wayside, expression unimpressed. Flash shrugged.

“I know it’s cheesy… it just keeps the locals from being taken seriously,” he mused, jabbing a thumb to the cottage behind them, the bright lettering of _“Joe’s Wheat Retreat and Hedge Maze”_ quite jarring against the dark stones. Eddie blinked, frowning after the other agent as he trekked into the tall grass, brushing off the ears as they stuck to the pristine suit.

**We… We remember this place** , Venom murmured, Eddie jumping for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck. The alien had been silent for most of the drive and getting used to a constant presence wasn’t the easiest task Eddie had ever dealt with.

“Oh yeah? What do you- “

**We came here.**

Eddie fidgeted at that, frowning as he shrugged his shoulders and licked at his lips before following Flash. “I’m sorry, I don’t… I don’t remember,” he mumbled, glancing up and looking out to the fields that had engulfed the black suit and equally golden hair. No sign of his friend. Eddie bit at his already torn lips, running a hand through his cropped hair. He squeaked as his body moved on its own, marching a seemingly in a random direction.

“V-Vee? What- where are you-?”

He blinked as his legs started into a run. The run then slipped into a sprint. He gasped as the ears of wheat whipped past him, limbs feeling no burn with the sudden speed. His gaze turned, eyes left wide as the expanse over the hill made his mind sing.

The sun was setting and waving its last rays over the fields lined with picket fences, intricate circles and small detailing now visible to Eddie. The symbols seemed familiar. The spirals all layered in seemingly erratic patterns. He found himself with the urge to laugh and cry, feet slowing to a stop. The drain of power from his legs had him shaking like a leaf, breaths sudden ragged as he collapsed to the flattened stalks. That urge became so much stronger and he merely let the tears fall and the hiccups flutter up.

“W-what’s happen’ng to m-e?” he choked, blinking rapidly as Venom flowed back over his hands and brought them to his face to hastily wipe the tears from his cheeks.

**A… Apologies… This is- this is where we-**

Before he could truly comprehend what was said, something shoved violently against his hippocampus. He cried out, clutching his head as it spun with a monster of a headache. He could barely take in the sounds of Venom’s panicked rambling in his mind before it all went black.

 

_“Are they really sure that 3 of us are needed for a simple extraction?” Drake whined, Eddie sighing as he leant against the worn brick, patting his pockets to make sure his guns were still there. Flash glared at the youngest, snorting as he peered through the binoculars at the flaming wreck not too far from the forest’s edge._

_“Since when did dealing with aliens become_ simple _for you, Drake?” the other snapped, Eddie snickering behind his hand._

_“Wow, careful, Carlton… Your age is showin’,” Eddie added, his New York drawl still quite prominent and merely making the man in question blush harder. It was still noticeable in the fading light of the evening. Flash held up a hand, the three all tensing and going quiet._

_“Definitely picking up something… Not matching with any energy levels currently on the database but they are at least within our dimension and show no fluctuations,” Flash replied, standing and nodding to the rock currently imbedded in the ground._

_“Alright, team. Remember, our main goal is to get this alien is to reason with it or incapacitate it at the worst,” Brock ordered, nodding to the fields that were now in blazes with the heat emanating from the rock. The three approached calmly, hands in pockets and shrugging off the flames, the suits proving useful in their protective technology. Flash took the lead, using a sonar mixed with a Geiger counter to search. Often aliens had a slightly different radiation due to the difference in atmospheres in space and the machine was usually efficient in locating alien lifeforms._

_Traversing the area, the noticeable lack of beings seemed to confused Flash, finding a strong reading but no visible lifeform._

_“You sure that it isn’t in another dimension? Doesn’t seem to be-” Eddie paused, his whole body shivering as something crawled up his ankle. Acting out of pure instinct, he shook his leg, lifting it up to claw at his skin._

_Except, that wasn’t his skin._

_“Shit!” He pulled his hand back only to find it coated in muck. No matter how far he stretched his hand, the black ink stuck to his skin and refused to snap. He paused, mind whirling before coming to a decisive conclusion just as the creature sunk into his pores._

**_I am Venom, and you are_ mine.**

 

Eddie came to on the grass with water being frantically tossed onto his face, spluttering as he hacked up mouthfuls of it from his nose and throat. “What the fuck? What- how am I-?” He huffed, the dream still flashing behind his eyes. He blinked as he felt fingers suddenly retract from his arms and chest, Venom’s terrifying claws leaving pinpricks from where they had clenched onto his skin.

“You were out for like 20 minutes- “

**“He collapsed and… those were memories, weren’t they?”** Venom chattered, Eddie’s gaze fading into a sharp blue punctured by lime green. He shook his head, holding it with his palm in hopes to stabilize himself.

“I-I don’t know… Flash, have you been here before?” he asked, eyes swimming in confusion and fear. The younger paused, raising an eyebrow.

“Once… In fact, it’s when we… when we found Venom,” Flash replied, seemingly lost in his own thoughts as he frowned down at Eddie. “How did you know I was here before?” he asked, fidgeting with the cuff of his undershirt, having shucked off the blazer in the heat.

“You… you were there- _I_ was here. We came to find something, on a comet that had crashed here,” Eddie explained, gesturing with his hands as he attempted to rationalize it all. He glanced up to see two shocked expressions. Venom was small, the snake-like version with massive eyes that currently stretched over most of the end of the tendril they had formed. Yet the shock on both of their expressions said a lot.

**“We were shut out… But that- you shouldn’t be able to remember. You were _neuralised_. People don’t just remember that-!”**

“But… you _do_ ,” Flash near whispered, glancing down to the alien lifeform bobbing above their host.

“You were- _are_ connected at a biological and mental level! It’s likely the reactions in Eddie’s brain are due to his re-exposure to you, Venom.”

The bonded pair thought for a moment, taking the news in. Thoughts were hurtling through their connection, a mess of various memories and concerns.

“So… what you’re saying is that if Venom and I interact more, the more I’ll remember what happened to me?” Eddie murmured, staring as his trembling hands.

Flash shrugged and grinned.

“I guess so.”

 

After letting Eddie rest for another few more minutes, the three began to trek to the comet’s landing site. “Alright. As much as I’m sure you’re eager to chat, we need to look for clues as to where Riot has set up shop,” Flash stated, pulling a bottle of water from his blazer and throwing it at Eddie. To the guy’s credit, he somehow managed to scramble to catch the thing before dropping it as soon as he had it in his hands. Venom, being a gracious creature, whipped out of Eddie’s ankle and passed it back up to their host.

“Thanks. Who’s this Riot person again?” He asked, taking gulps of the liquid, dehydrated from the heat and superhuman bout of running.

“Another one of Venom’s kind- a symbiote,” Flash supplied, kicking a stone along as they walked. “They came out of nowhere when this comet landed a few days ago. They seemed to have come with more symbiotes and formed an attack force,” he explained, frowning as he pulled out his phone and glanced about, holding out a hand. Eddie felt Venom roil under his skin for a moment, scratching at the back of his neck at the feeling. They must have been upset by the mention of their species. “We’re quite close. I should also mention that, uh, it might not be a pretty sight,” Flash mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck before pulling into a seemingly thick hedge of bushes.

Eddie raised an eyebrow, but huffed and followed anyway, Venom anxiously vibrating. Stepping forward was bizarre, feeling dense foliage for a moment before it popped like a bubble under his palm, tripping up before the scene before him sank in.

Venom instantly arched off his clothes and dug their loops of ink around his arms. Three mauled bodies were all lined up in front of the massive crater cradling the equally large comet.

Eddie couldn’t drag his eyes away.

A torso entirely halved, arm mangled with holes and unnatural spines. A body entirely wrong, limbs snapped in opposite directions of joints. Tongue lolling out of a bottomless jaw, cleaved through the groin all the way through to the sternum.

Eddie couldn’t move.

But he had to when his stomach lurched, coughing up scrambled eggs onto the grass, glad he had downed a lot of water when the bile kept coming. His vision suddenly swarmed with black, Venom’s form smoothly gliding over his eyelids and calming the rush of blood to his face. He groaned, a brisk hand clapping him on the back, forcing him to hack for a few more seconds. “We’ve all been there, you aren’t the first,” Flash tried to console him, Eddie merely grumbling in response, distress coming off of him in waves.

**Easy… We have suppressed your gag reflex and shut off your stomach. Take deep breaths. Don’t look at them.**

The tendrils gradually peeled away, helping him stand. Flash waited by his side, covering his nose as he strolled over to the bodies and casually examined them. Eddie forced his gaze away, Venom merely guiding his limbs around the three forms.

**Ignore him. Focus on the crash site. We’ll help you look.**

Eddie could barely stay upright, head feeling sluggish as he tried to direct his sight around the chunk of rock. “A-Alright… jus-t tell me what I’m- we’re looking for,” he chattered, rubbing his arms as his body tried to go into shock. Yet a gentle tutting in that terrifying voice told him all he needed to know.

**Tracks, traces of what kind of level we’re dealing with, you know… clues? Like the crime shows we would-** Venom abruptly cut themselves off, Eddie’s cheeks flushing all the way to his ears while magenta and deep purple mingled behind his eyes. **Ahem, just… anything that could help us find the others,** they stated sheepishly, tendrils retracting into his skin.

Eddie paused, deciding to bite his tongue and address that slip up later, when they were alone and he wasn’t a moment away from passing out. He nodded slowly, limbs feeling like lead as he gradually patrolled the sight. It was merely an aimless task he was doing, effort clearly not being put in, much to Venom’s dismay.

**“We thought you’d be more involved or excited about this, being a journalist and all,”** they suddenly piped in, Eddie managing not to leap up in surprise at the appearance of the symbiote’s disembodied head. He shook his own, licking at his lips.

“Not when you’ve just thrown up and passed out under an hour ago for the second time in one day,” he said, not even bothering to try look or complain as the partially familiar feeling of Venom steering his body.

It was an aimless back and forth, Eddie’s nose and mouth still stinging with bile. Some of his more wild and sad nights made the taste familiar. Venom chatted away, pointing out a few oddities to him as they walked around the site. Eddie only found himself focusing when they had strayed further than anticipated.

“Ah, shit,” he huffed, looking up at the trees and then behind them. “Hey, were you paying attention to where we were-” he paused as he realised Venom was entirely still, their eyes fixated on something ahead of them. Eddie twisted his head in the same direction, feeling a pang shove into the back of his skull.

Venom was more prepared for it this time, their tendrils cushioning his fall before the memory took out their host.

 

_Eddie was already preparing to shoot his own foot off. Drake and Flash were panicking, shouting nonsense at each other as their elder’s arm seemed to fight with itself, gun falling to the wayside. “Idiots, just shoot me-!” Eddie choked as a tendril as thick as his wrist curled around his throat, nostrils flaring as his breath got shorter._

_Both agents stumbled as rows of ragged teeth split across a face that was barely framed in the night sky, flames dancing off the viscous liquid._

**_“Now, now… Don’t want to off your leader, do you?”_ ** _The voice grated on all three of their ears, Eddie continuing to struggle against the involuntary surrender of his body._

_“Explain yourself! A symbiote isn’t cleared to be on Earth,” Flash hissed, gun still shockingly still as he aimed it at his mentor. The creature tilted its head, a prehensile tongue flicking out of its maw._

**_“Cleared? This planet is merely a feast! You’ll love it when-”_ ** _It was Venom’s turn to shut up as a blinding hit of pain had them screeching. They tightened their coils around their host’s respiratory tract, enjoying the sound of the human gasping. That is until they saw the nasty smirk on the other’s face._

_“That’s an act of aggression,” the host wheezed, hands tightening at his side. Fighting with the alien’s control, Eddie managed to get some hold on his body, instantly falling to his knees before rolling towards the flames. The creature suddenly ejected itself from the body, Eddie grinning as he stood._

_Venom belatedly realised that the humans seemed to realise what it was. Just like it belatedly realised it was being scooped up into a metal capsule._ Two errors tonight… Well done,s̷̛̥̠͋͘a̴̝̲͂͊s̶͙̲͉̥͊̄d̴̖̯̯̮͛̑â̶͇̳͓͉͐͒f̴̞͘ ̴̲̦̣̍̑̈́̊͜,  o̷̺̐́p̴͖̙͛ṗ̶͓͘͠f̷̗̥͓͙̎͝d̸̝̑͌s̸̖̿ will be so happy, _they lamented, curling and expanding to try find an exit of some sort. The contraption was well sealed, however._

_“Took you long enough to figure out what it was,” Eddie grumbled, voice muffled by the glass as they slammed against it and sputtered with indignation._

_“Well, no one’s dead,” Flash snorted, chuckling the container to Carlton, who seemed to instantly marvel at the lively goo in the container. “And we have a new interrogation to conduct. I know how you love those,” the agent said._

_Eddie shook his head, rolling his eyes._

_“Who knows… these ones are usually the easiest to turn.”_

 

Coming to was a far more pleasant experience. Eddie took in a deep breath, realising he was standing upright with a breeze cutting through his cropped hair. He licked his lips and glanced about.

The ground was familiar, despite how many years it had been, despite the fact that when he’d last seen it it had been on fire.

“This is where I found you… Jesus, you were a dick,” Eddie huffed, nose wrinkling as the peaceful moment evaporated, Venom’s roaring laughter shockingly welcome. The fallen meteor still lay in the grass, flowers now blooming about it and the trees crowing about the edges.

**You aren’t wrong** , Venom mused, Eddie startling as the hands that curled around his waist retreated as fast as they had appeared. For a moment, there was a pang in his chest, grumbling as he ran a hand over his heart. Before he could remark on the reaction, his eyes caught a glimpse of something hiding in the few dandelions poking their heads out the green. He crouched down, eyes widening as he saw the heavy sets of footprints concealed in the shade. Reaching out, Eddie plucked a torn up piece of fabric.

The skribble of _-6 7893_ seemed like a clue to him.

“Seems like a phone number…” he mumbled, turning it over. While torn, neatly embroidered - _chanic USS Tuls-_ before being cut off as well. He frowned, pursing his lips. He patted down his person, humming and suddenly frowning when he realised that accessing his phone wouldn’t- Venom suddenly sprung out a tendril, clutching the sleek -but admittedly outdated-  iPhone. He blinked, raising an eyebrow with his lips poised to question the alien.

**Your neurons and synapses are very loud,** they snipped, Eddie somehow feeling the grin even if he couldn't see Venom’s visage. He rolled his eyes, sighing before rubbing his forehead.

“Yeah, of course- course you can hear my inner thoughts too,” he huffed, quick to bring up Google despite the terrible signal. The wait took around two minutes before the page brought up what he was looking for. “USS Tulsa… its a military ship,” Eddie thought aloud, running a hand under his chin as he skim read the article. “It was made recently… might be our best bet right now,” he stated, turning back to where Flash was wondering where the pair had gotten off to.

 “There you are! You two can’t stay put, can you?” Flash mused, trotting over to Eddie, briefly shielding him from the fading light. The other grunted, nodding weakly to just try convey that he took some offense to that statement. The day was starting to catch up to him and he really just wanted a good night’s sleep.

**“Or you’re a terrible leader,”** Venom hissed, manifesting out of Eddie’s chest and giving both men a startle. However, the two humans chuckled, Eddie a tad more nervously than Flash.

The walk back was pleasant. The sun was practically gone, barely poking over the horizon. Eddie explained what he had discovered, omitting the other episode in favour of trying to keep Flash from clucking and fussing over him.

And for a moment, Eddie thought that he could get used to this.

 

**...ddie...miss breakfast… Eddie… _Eddie… EDDIE!_**

Venom watched their host tumble out the bed, the man’s eyes wild with confusion and hesitation. The shriek when he saw their face wondering up from his shoulder was more than annoying and equally piercing. Yet they chose not to dig too deep into that feeling. Instead they chose to puppeteer their host upright, Eddie squeaking in a mix of indignation and fear.

“W-wait, where-? Oh… oh.” The lame reply had Venom managing to roll their eyes, shaking their head as they continued to shepherd him to the bathroom. Dressing him would be easy. It’s all the other nitty gritty issues that come with human hygiene that were the real issues.

“I can do this myself,” he huffed, watching as Venom shucked off his shirt, going for his briefs before Eddie was quick to stop the deft hands. “I can do _this_ _myself_ ,” Eddie insisted, a blush creeping up his temples and cheekbones. For a moment, the form of the hands rippled, as if the temperature had dropped to freezing for a second. They gradually pulled themselves into their host. Eddie continued his daily routine without much thought on the previous interaction. Change, quick breakfast, check phone, brush teeth, leave. He was only bothered when Venom swarmed over his body in perfect skinny jeans and a loose top. They also popped out to steal a lick of toothpaste, much to his dismay.

Before he had even got out the door, Anne’s name flickered onto his screen, eyes widening in surprise. A dash of exhilaration tore through him, picking at his bracelets. Even though their last parting was brief and tense, it was better than the previous one.

“Hello?”

“Good to hear you’re up. Come on through to the third floor. I’m in W34-”

“Um- so how have you been?” Eddie interjected, his chest tightening at the terse language and voice. She only used that tone with clients. He didn’t blame her, but being treated like a stranger was worse than anything she had said to him during the fallout.

“... Eddie, this isn’t the time.  Let it go,” she insisted. He bit his lip, chest tightening uncomfortably.

“Listen, I’m sorry- I know I’m-”

“ _Eddie_ , it’s not going to happen. See you in ten minutes.”

Before he could try one last time, the phone cut.

Tendrils curled around his chest, Eddie blinking rapidly as he felt his throat tighten and eyes water. He offered a smile, despite how pained it appeared. A noise slipped past his lips when he felt a hand dwarf his, glancing down to see an  . The squeeze to his palm brought more of a shine to his smile, returning the squeeze. The gesture was appreciated to the fullest.

“Thanks, Vee.”

Suddenly, the idea of being with the alien for much longer than anticipated wasn’t such a scary thought.

 

Tension snapped in the air, suffocating the already stuffy office. Anne crossed her legs neatly, tapping together a few papers and slapping a file down in front of Eddie and Venom. If it had just been the human, she most likely would have tossed them out by now.

“Everything we know is in that folder,” she stated, Venom’s head bobbing just as a hand materialized on his other side to begin paging through the thin amount of documents. She decided to put aside the fact that Eddie had never looked so uncomfortable in his life. Besides the fact that he was adjusting to living with a creature he hadn’t seen in over four years, he was struggling to come to terms with many other things from his now previous life. She sighed as he continued to avoid her eyes, gaze darting everywhere except her face.

**“Riot… the name rings a bell,”** Venom spoke up, voice reverberating in the cramped space. Anne cocked an eyebrow, huffing as she placed her cheek in her palm. The narrowed whites suddenly blew open in surprise, face morphing back into the more familiar and terrifying visage. **“Symbiotes this large and with such power are not common place. What we’re dealing with is a leader,”** they explained, splaying the images with in the file. Many were of corpses imbedded with spines that cut through their abdomen, while a few grainy ones were taken of a massive figure leering over another body, the crescent whites on the creature’s head giving the species away. **“Strong and cunning, we’re guessing that this one is looking to establish a colony,”** they explained, Eddie piping up at that reply.

“Establish a colony?” he asked, frowning as Venom got a dash of reels, all the various sci-fi movies their host had scared himself with in the early hours of the morning.

**“Using humans as hosts and overpowering them for their own gain,”** they replied, just managing to quell the majority of the sympathetic system as it tried to kick Eddie’s anxiety into high drive. It would take far longer than expected to get their host to trust them again. They could only hope on the memories still locked away in his hippocampus.

“While the organisation has dealt with such things, the nature of the alien is what concerns us,” Anne stated, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Due to symbiotes being able to take over their hosts and bend them to their will, Venom is the only true barrier we have against combating these aliens… besides fire and sound,” she mused, hand waving at the end note. “And even then, we’re dealing with force that can wipe the floor with troops if we’re not careful. Venom, however, can measure up to that strength- well, at least enough for us to step in.”

**“So all we need to do is _find_ Riot,”** Venom asked, hand dissolving as they listened in on Eddie’s confused thoughts. His mind was struggling to wrap around the idea of how _they_ could possibly be stronger than a creature that had murdered three operatives and begun a calculated rampage in the city.

“Yes. From there… you know what to do,” Anne said, her lips curving up into a smirk. Venom mimicked the smile, teeth neatly stacked against one another as the fleeting idea of the hunt made their senses soar.

**“Of course.”**

“Alright. You are both allowed access to Eddie’s old office and papers. Vee, I’m assuming you remember where it’s located?” she questioned, standing and straightening her blouse and skirt. The ease in which she carried her perfect image was a harsh contrast to Eddie’s half put together appearance, his fingers brushing through his hair self consciously.

**“Please, Annie, we could march ourselves there in our- Eddie’s sleep,”** they huffed, making the point clear by quickly yanking the other human up and snatching the documents while their host wore a look of fearful confusion. The woman, much to Eddie’s shock, laughed politely into her fist.

“I didn’t doubt it for a second… look after him for me, will you?” The professional expression fell from Anne’s face, a moment of worry and care passing over her sharp features. A hand coalesced from his shoulder and flashed her a thumbs up before disappearing as fast as it appeared.

 

**You miss her… don’t you?** Venom questioned as they piloted Eddie through the halls, his muscles still resisting each pull and release they forced onto his legs. It was frustrating to be in a body they had once called home, now barely able to skim along Eddie’s chest without his cells going into a full blown panic. Their host hummed, a sour taste forming in his mouth. Venom struggled against the urge to try correct it, to try push themselves back into those neurons and fiddle about till they triggered _something_. They were close to doing _anything_ to get their host to remember them.

“We… we have a history-”

**_So do we._ **

“- and it didn’t… it didn’t end well between us. She was lovely- in fact, we almost got married,” Eddie mused, Venom hissing as the thought made a streak of impulsive violence flare up in their quiet space, forcefully pushing it down lest they scare their host even more.

**Pity… she is a decent human,** they tried, adjusting Eddie’s waistband as they walked, making sure each little fibre was comfortable and the best fucking clothes their host would ever wear. **Although… we’ve met better,** they mused, memories unwittingly starting to surface before they could catch themselves. His fists opened and closed. Nervous, a habit he’d picked up. Venom could remember that much.

“Is that so? Met anyone interesting?” He tried, scuffing his feet on the ground as they struggled to keep in sync with a body that was actively rejecting them. Luckily, his immune system wasn’t as strong as it was years prior.

**Hmm… you could say that,** they said, the small talk something that just felt right - familiar in the best ways. They came to a halt, along with the conversation.

The door to office F12 was something they never really thought they’d see again.

**It’s been a while…** they mumbled, unable to bring themselves to lift Eddie’s hand. What if this all dissolved the second their host touched the handle? What if it was all just a trap and they’d suddenly be trapped back in that container?

Worse yet, what if Eddie was just never here to begin with?

“Woah, easy there- you’re squeezing me a little tightly, Venom,” Eddie wheezed, the symbiote suddenly fleeing their host’s nerves to tuck themselves away and into the base of his neck.

**Sorry, it’s… it’s a lot. This means a lot to us.**

The smile that graced his lips was one that Venom had missed.

“Don’t need to be sorry. Being cooped up for that long makes this sort of thing a lot, right? I can take it from here,” he assured, confident despite the fear that tore at his nerves. Entering the space, he shifted at the emotions it sparked. It felt so clean. It didn’t feel right. The only truly comfortable area was the paper strewn desk, files stacked on the one side of the cabinets. Running his finger on the table revealed it to have spots of dust, but was mainly clean after disuse.

Eddie sighed, turning to the papers and beginning to rifle through them. He huffed when he realised his favourite pen wasn’t on him, patting down his pockets like Venom could materialise one. It was only when he dug into the cabinets on his right side that he found a tattered pencil bag and a… packet of toffees. Suddenly, the symbiote perked up, an unsure tendril reaching out to pluck the two bags out and place them on Eddie’s left. Picking up the goodie bag of concentrated sugar, Eddie plucked a post-it note stuck on the front.

_Dear Eddie and Vee,_

_I know these are some of your favourites._

_Welcome back, sir._

_-F_

He paused, brushing his thumb over the note before tearing it off and sticking it to the side cabinet. Looking back at the brand- Eddie hissed, clutching his temple as a ricochet pushed insistently against his temple. For just a moment, he saw Venom’s pearlescent eyes finally still as they were locked on the packet clutched in his hands.

 

_It had been a late day. One of those painfully slow yet oddly filled schedules that choked out the life of a person. Even so, Venom made it all tolerable._

**_Why do men smell like musk that has been rolled in gasoline? It’s revolting._ **

**_We think that we can wear that blue dress better. What do you think, Eddie?_ **

**_God, you humans talk too much and when you do talk most of it is useless. You all need to learn to communicate telepathically and through images. It’s so much more productive._ **

**_We’re bored- oops, there goes your coffee through your nose, sorry._ **

_No day was the same despite the monotony that came with paperwork and reports, Venom’s addition to his life something he could never give up no matter how much they bugged him. Their distractions were gradually becoming welcome and almost craved._

_Eddie sighed, running a hand through his hair as his co-host continued to prattle about how excited they were._

**_Are we seriously having the salted caramels? You aren’t pulling on my tendril?_ ** _Venom questioned for the hundredth time, their smaller form curled around his neck, tongue lapping up the drool starting to drip out of their mouth. Eddie laughed, brushing a hand over the head that just fit in his palm._

_“No, I’m not. You were very well behaved today, Vee. Besides, you and I deserve a treat after that two-hour meeting,” he mused, shouldering open their cubicle-_

_Flash’s guilty eyes met his mentor’s, salted caramel halfway to his lips with chocolate smeared on the corners of his mouth._

_The younger man tried to hide his misdeed, nervously glancing to the floor like a scolded school boy. “I-I apologise, sir. I jus-t thought I could nab a few, since you bought so many-” Flash stilled as he watched Brock raise his hand, a surprisingly dark expression on his face. The boy’s skin was properly red, the colour dipping down under his collar and making his ears stand out against the coppery blonde hair._

_“I’m not the one you need to apologise to,” Eddie stated simply, crossing his arms._

_Flash gulped as Venom coalesced all around their partner, engulfing the man till they easily stood 3 feet taller than the blonde. The ever-present grin was no longer present, scowl clear and eyes narrowed to crescents. With two steps they stood over the apprentice, leaning down to leer over him, drool slathering the bone butcher knives in their monstrous frown. Flash flinched as a drop landed on his forehead, shaking in his shoes at the creature above him. He had never had the opportunity to see them this close, let alone have their full attention like this. It was overwhelming in the worst possible way. He squeaked as they leant closer, quickly throwing up his arms as if he could protect himself from such a powerful being-_

_The uproarious laughter had Flash trembling harder, but his shoulders relaxed. It was better than hearing his bones creak and then shatter between those teeth._

**_“Oh please, boy. If we were truly angry you would be paste that we would have lapped up by now,”_ ** _Venom’s voice boomed in the space, dominating the space in the same manner that their form did._

**_“Now, apologise.”_ **

_Flash paused, trying to get some sort of moisture back into his mouth._

_“S-sorry Venom, sir.”_

**_“There’s a good man! Now… to compensate you need to deliver six Krispy Kreme donuts, two chocolate, one crème brulee and three jam-”_ ** _Flash blinked as Eddie seemed to wrestle himself from the alien, huffing and hissing at the ink that merely stuck out its obscenely long tongue at him before properly retreating into his skin. At least not before yelling that Flash’s spleen was on the line if he didn’t deliver. The elder seemed flustered, making sure that his suit wasn’t as wrinkled as he thought it was while Flash tried not to feel like his first week at the Men in Black HQ would be his last._

_“You really don’t need to give us donuts… in fact, please don’t. They’re starting to show on my belts,” Eddie whined, running a hand through his drenched hair. “Also, if you really want chocolates during the day, we’ll keep a separate pile for you, hey? Venom was being forgiving this time, but you also didn’t catch them in a bad mood,” he stated, wagging a finger at Thompson. He nodded feverishly, licking his lips and fidgeting on the spot._

_“Now, I suggest you get going before I hand you another assignment for today,” Eddie chuckled, watching Flash scramble for the door, the man taking the time to pause and glance back._

_“And don’t worry, Venom. I’ll bring those donuts tomorrow, but you owe me one!” Eddie spluttered, not getting a word in before that familiar liquid covered his mouth. The symbiote popped out of his shoulder, grin back at full force and eyes full of mischief._

**_“You’ve got yourself a deal, Thompson.”_ **

 

Coming back, Venom’s tendrils had anchored him, gaze blurry as he came back from the memory. They always hit like a freight train, another piece of the puzzle he had yet to stitch together. He glanced at the black chords cradling him in the desk chair, blinking as they once again retracted into his blazer. A question nagged at his mind, eyes fixed on the lettering. It was indecipherable, a typography that he would probably never comprehend.

Or did he once upon a time?

“How much… how much have I forgotten?” Eddie whispered, a sense of unease settling in his gut. “I- I was a _mentor_ and we… we were close.” He squeezed his eyes shut as a ripple passed along that gradually strengthening bond. A shiver of wailing sadness and emptiness barely brushed his emotions before it was hurriedly pulled away, the host snapping up to attention as tears were jerked out of him...

Tension fizzed between the two, Eddie trying to process the emotions he couldn’t understand while Venom stayed eerily numb on the other side.

With fear of this alien creature still lingering on his mind, he chose not to push.

**_Please push_.**

He didn’t want to make Venom uncomfortable.

**_You don’t know us._ **

It felt too soon, especially with his reality having crashed yesterday.

**_We don’t know you anymore._ **

“It’s fine… you don’t have to know everything. We’ll figure this out,” he assured both of them, neither feeling much better at the empty words and too-full mind. He sighed, deflating at the lack of usual chatter, eyes still roving over the packet before turning to put it back into the drawer- yet a touch on his hand caught his attention. The tendril hesitated, reaching and retracting, their host watching in confusion. His eyes widened when he realised what they were doing.

“You want… permission? You can knock yourself out, honestly,” Eddie assured, a smile finding its way onto his face as four of the inky appendages sprang upon the packet and tore it open, raining the sweets onto the desk and the stacks of files.

**Shit, sorry. We haven’t had these in-**

He snorted, shaking his head, brushing the scattering off the papers before picking up one and tapping it against the other in Venom’s death grip, quick to take off the wrapping and wink at the suit adoring his form.

“Cheers,” he mused, popping the sweet into his mouth, focus returning to the files he had hunched over, the furrow in his brow and tapping off his foot an endearing quirk. Along with the fact that he forgot about the toffee and stuck his pen into his mouth only to have chunks plaster to the worried plastic, much to Eddie’s dismay.

Venom near melted, merely engulfing the sweet.

They had never forgotten why they had loved this man.

Yet, this was just another moment to fall  for him all over again.

 

It was only two hours, a full packet of toffees and one stomach ache later that a knock sounded at their door. Eddie’s head snapped up from where he had been lying on the floor, arm flopping away from his eyes as Venom puddled and split apart in areas, dealing badly with the massive hit of processed sugar.

**We haven’t digested this much in _years_ ,** they whined, somewhat feeling proud for the amount they had gotten through despite that fact.

“We aren’t having more of those in a while,” Eddie grumbled, pushing himself upright and stumbling over to the door, yanking it open only to be greeted by Flash. Comparing, the younger was pristine, suit not dribbling off at his arm and hair combed into a stylish mess while Eddie’s was just… a regular mess. The elder raised an eyebrow as a blush began to grow on Thompson’s cheeks, his eyes straying to the room behind them.

“G-Good morning,” Flash greeted, his hands now fiddling behind his back as Eddie straightened before promptly doubling over from a painful stab to his stomach, holding up a single finger. Thompson dutifully waited, feeling less embarrassed as he observed the two.

“Get us another packet of whatever the fuck those were, just… make sure it’s smaller please?” Eddie asked, the other bursting out into laughter, patting the elder’s shoulder.

“Oh my soul, it's just a stomach ache,” Flash exclaimed, shaking his head before glancing over Eddie’s shoulder, blinking at how the documents were already half-way done. “Shit, you’ve gotten better at this,” he murmured, Venom taking up his vision as the symbiote manifested.

**“Why are you here, Flash?”** the alien asked, tongue still pawing at the gaps of their teeth, dismayed to find more and more butter and sugar stuck in their maw.

“Well, we have a hunch where Riot is,” Thompson mused, eyebrow raised and tilting his head to the side. “We’re going to observe the area, so we were hoping you wanted to come along,” he said, a grin spreading across his lips. Before Eddie had any say, Venom was already nodding and nudging his legs along the corridor. He opened his mouth, but rolled his eyes and glared back at the symbiote now leering at him with slivers of white and a snarl to rival any tale of dragons.

“I guess we are… don’t really have a choice in the matter.”

 

 

The drive was around an hour and a half, mostly characterised by Eddie’s snores and the friendly chatter between Flash and Venom. The darkened windows meant that the disembodied head floating in the front seat was nothing more than a strange silhouette rather than a grizzly sight.

“So… how have you been doing?” the human asked, gaze fixated on the road. He didn’t need to see the alien’s visage to know what they were thinking. Being this close and having that familiar connection still buzzing between the two meant that such things as body language wasn’t important… especially since Venom didn’t even have their full corporeal form out.

**“It’s… not easy. Eddie doesn’t remember us at all- doesn’t have the same memories we used to enjoy together,”** they pondered, their unfiltered voice crackling over the radio fuzz, bored with the receding buildings and growing more interested in the rising hills and rolling chunks of golden grass. **“We take no pleasure in keeping secrets from our host,”** they added quietly, vulnerability showing through the thick gravel.

He smiled, sympathetic and reflective as his prosthetics pressed against the pedal. “I’m sure you don’t. But how are you _doing_? Are you really sure you want to stay with Eddie-?” It was a mistake to ask that question.

The roar reverberated in the car, startling the agent as he veered back onto his correct lane, heart pounding. His gaze snapped to the creature now expanding into the passenger side, hulking in a formidably familiar form, claws gauging into the armrest and saliva splattering onto the pristine leather.

**“You do not understand, Flash Thompson. You _never_ have! I can’t just jump from host to host like my brethren. I would rather _die_ than be-”**

“For fuck’s sake, Venom, It was just a question! And for the record, I lost a lot as well during that shit show! Ever think about that?” Flash hissed, the symbiote recoiling and pressing their massive form into the corner, all snarls and restless violence. He scowled back at the tar, eyes fixed on the white dashes slipping under the car.

**“We both have our second chances, no matter how far they are from what they were-”**

“Eddie isn’t a prosthetic, Vee! He’s a person and you know just as well as I do that he isn’t _Eddie_. You can’t just force him into a forever bond like he’s some doll!” Flash screeched, quickly pulling over as his limbs trembled and his thighs ached. He ignored the alien as he dug in his cubbie and yanked out some painkillers, downing a few as the two tried to cross the chasm that yawned between them. When they were still Agent Venom, they argued often, but it had never been this bad.

 

At least not since the accident that cost Flash his legs.

**“We know you're awake.”** The mumble caught Thompson’s attention, eyes nervously flickering to the rearview mirror. He was met with startled blue irises, paralyzed and bleeding with anxiety. A brief flick to Venom revealed nothing to him, the alien startlingly neutral.

The realisation that he could no longer connect with his closest friends and greatest mentors was a punch to the gut.

“E-Eddie… I- we didn’t know you were awake-”

“W-What do you mean _forever?_ ” the host chimed in, the clarity of his fear and anger something that even had Flash worried.

“I th-thought this would be like- like a _month_ thing? Like sort out this fucking Hoard thing or whatever and I can go back to my life,” Eddie choked, hands gripping at the leather seats for dear life.

“This alien thing _isn’t me,_ even Flash agreed!”

**“Eddie…”**

Flash pressed his forehead to the driver’s wheel, taking deep breaths to try still the fear climbing up his throat.

“I- I don’t…” Forgetting that he was still very much attached to the person he was panicking about, Eddie shoved open the door and slammed it shut, Venom having to awkwardly shift to the back seat, form stretching thin. Glancing out the window, Flash sighed as he watched the man pace and tear at his hair, mouthing words that he couldn’t make out if he tried.

**“It will never be the same, will it?”** The voice was so tired, chipped away till an unmovable boulder was nothing more than a pebble, fragile and wishing for something more. **“... You’re right, Thompson, as you usually are.”** Venom’s chuckle was nothing short of excruciating.

**“He isn’t Eddie. He just isn’t.”**

“You know that there’s still a chance-” he tried to argue, attempting to solve this problem.

**“I know that you are _lying_. I don’t blame you- you learnt from the best. But he’s gone. He’s gone and it’s this organisation’s _fucking fault_.”**

Flash knew his cards had all been dealt when Venom retreated, eyes roving back to watch Eddie turn his back from the alien and tremble. Shaken and horrified, the elder returned to the car, eyes still dilated with fear. As he climbed back in, the door became one of the last sounds Flash heard on that drive.

 

 

Venom hadn’t made a single noise since.

Maybe if it had been two hours ago, Eddie might have given more of a damn. Yet, after the disturbing conversation he had woken up to in the middle of the drive, he couldn’t bring himself to feel that kind of unflinching interest in the alien residing in his body. The alien that wanted to reside there until one of them pegged off. He shook his head, the idea making him queasy.

Would he have his autonomy stripped away from him each day?

Would he have a constant voice in his head, watching his thoughts and emotions while it relayed its own?

Would he ever feel comfortable with that?

Could he ever feel comfortable with that?

He sighed, glancing at his arms and the living fabric wrapped around him. Its previous sheen and mysteriously changing fibres now lay dormant, occasionally shifting as if Venom was getting situated once again. It seemed like another boring old suit. The fit had loosened, now barely any part of it touching his skin and flinching back if it so much as grazed a skin cell. A breeze was filling in all the cracks, making Eddie far colder with the brewing storm on the horizon.

For the umpteenth time in his life, despite being surrounded by people, he felt lonely.

“Alright. So backup is waiting on the sidelines if things go wrong,” Flash stated, ignoring the mile long issue squished between the two meters separating them. For that, Eddie was grateful.

“Are we just looking for signs of another alien, essentially?” he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets only to find them making too much space for his hands to feel secure.

Not a single word came from the symbiote.

“Y-yeah… call me if you find anything out of the ordinary,” Flash stated, a hand raising, pausing just above his shoulder before he sheepishly turned and left Eddie with nothing more than his thoughts and fears. He rubbed the back of his neck, a little disconcerted that the prickle along his spine was absent. He’d always prided himself in adapting quickly to new situations, but this felt so different. Like being pulled from a pool and dumped in the arctic ocean, with his life preserver drifting further and further away with each passing second.

Turning to the containers stacking far above his head, Eddie merely began navigating through the maze, mind eerily occupied by one voice.

“Listen… I’m… I’m not used to this,” he tried, just wanting to distract himself. “All of this- any of it.” He kicked a stone, watching it skitter off. “I’m _trying_ , alright? I get that you knew me before whatever happened, but I… I’m not ready for that kind of commitment,” he mumbled. He took three steps forward before his chest suddenly ached, blinking in surprise before there was a sharp pain in his side. He gasped, face growing into a snarl, grabbing at his head and tearing into his hair in frustration.

“Not everything goes your way, you know?!” he howled, kicking at the container near him, cursing as he quickly realised that his toes were now throbbing. A snicker was just heard, whispering into his left ear, head automatically whipping around for the source of the sound. He huffed, flustered, all that fear tucked neatly under rage.

**It hasn’t gone my way for a while, you know?** That voice made Eddie sputter as he continued marching through the area.

“Try your ex-fiance being a secret agent where you apparently used to work and were attached with an alien- which, by the way, I only found out existed yesterday- who wants to live and squirm around in your body for all eternity!” he ranted, practically breathless from rushing about at an increasing pace, barely paying attention for anything. He came to a halt when he was greeted by a dead end.

**Try your best friend, your soulmate, who promised that they would always be with you, being forcefully torn from their body by the corporation you had worked with for over seven years… all over an accident that was blamed on _you_ , for nature you can’t change. Blamed enough for you to be shoved into a tiny cylinder for however long they deemed necessary. Then, your best friend comes back but they… they don’t remember you. Don’t remember you at all. In fact, they’re scared of you- scared of what four years of isolation has done to them. **

**Try that.**

Navy blue swarmed Eddie’s vision, cobalt trimming the edges and obscuring any of his own emotions.

Breath shredded and heart pounding, Eddie let his trembling legs ease him to the floor, taking a moment to let tears flow down his cheeks. It was said so bluntly. Stated as if it were data points on a company’s flow chart. Facts that couldn’t be changed. He tried to overwrite Venom’s influence, but _god_ the emotion was a tsunami he was being drowned in, arctic waters be damned.

“We were _close_ … you’ve been hurting,” he stated lamely, touching the material clinging over his chest, fingers brushing where his heart was. “You’ve been waiting for me- haven’t you? You weren't just sitting there doing nothing. You’ve been waiting,” he asked, the pieces falling into place as he pushed across that string. He held out a hand, aching for a response. Something other than those desaturated, lifeless colours.

A tentative black curled around his pinky, squeezing so gently and shaking almost as badly as he was. He offered a smile that barely stayed together.

**We missed you- terribly. Enough that we just didn’t want anything else.**

He sighed, letting his head hang forward. “I can’t promise you everything… it’s too much. But… I- I _want_ to remember,” he murmured, sniffing as their mindscape began to clear. Venom’s tendril thickened, grip tightening.

**We’ll try give you space… just- wait.**

Suddenly Eddie was on his feet and sprinting, vision wilting at the abrupt change in direction, barely understanding how he was going this fast. He came to an abrupt halt, frowning as Venom turned his head this way and that. He blanched at the flood of iron into his nose, crinkling it in distaste.

“What the hell? That smells like…” He chased the scent, crouching as he peeked around the corner of one of the containers-

He quickly hid around the corner of said container.

Despite the brief glimpse, he was pretty sure he had just seen a massive _thing_ munching down on a very human-like corpse. He swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“Vee, what is _that?_ ” he questioned, gaze darting between the logo on the front of the container in front of him and his right side, afraid the thing would be meeting his gaze every time it flicked back.

**Bad news. Let me handle this one,** Venom mumbled, Eddie’s brows furrowing in confusion.

“What-?”

Neither of them could have reacted fast enough. Eddie went from being crouched to being flung into a container, letting out a scream that was abruptly silenced with the crunch of his ribs and arm, crumpling to the floor. Venom was in an instant panic, or so he thought. Eddie’s eyes could barely open, head swimming from being tossed into a metal object. Yet what he saw instantly had him wishing he had kept his eyes closed.

The creature was easily over 8 feet tall, hide gleaming in the afternoon sun. It rippled in such a familiar pattern that he recognised it despite the green overcoat. Tongue lashing about a blood-slicked maw, eyes shaved down to a sliver, the symbiote took massive steps forward.

**“Look what the nosey sniffer dogs dragged in.”**

Eddie groaned in response, good arm buckling the second he put any pressure on his body. He needed to run- to get them to safety. Yet, a bleary glance to what the creature dropped from its right claws made him want to throw up. The worker’s clothes were slicked with fresh wounds, blood gushing from a missing arm and- fuck. He gagged at the sight of the person’s spinal cord in full view, ending abruptly in the area where there was meant to be ahead.

“We’ve been lookin’ for you,” he sputtered, coughing as blood settled in his mouth. Did he bite his tongue or was that internal bleeding? His best guess was both.

**“Look how pathetic you still are. Devouring you will bring no pleasure. But at least I can get some credit for bringing you to the leader.”** The alien loomed closer, raising a massive foot that would surely be the end of him. Just after he had made up and come to terms with having a second life he had kept such a good secret if he hadn’t known himself, let alone dealing the fact that he may be spending his current life with an alien. Perfect timing, great.

Yet, even as it came down, the blow didn’t come.

All of a sudden, his bones snapped into place, a sound that was as gruesome as it was fascinating. His left sleeve liquified and coated his hand, doubling in size as it clasped the heel just inches away from his hair. “What the fuck?” Eddie panted, adrenaline kicking in. He was whipped away, limbs reacting on their own as he was suddenly doing somersaults and flick flacks, landing a good few feet away.

“ _What the fuck?”_

Before he knew it, the black expanded across his body, trying to lift his head away from the encroaching darkness only to have it swallow him up.

_What the fuck?!_

**“For god’s sake, Eddie, shut up!”**

He was surrounded, yet neatly tucked up, against the ebb and flow he had come to know. The voice was echoing all about him, pressed directly into his ears. Each bit of his skin tingled, phantom movements and extra weight only registering as Venom moved his limbs about. It was then that he realised _why_ exactly the Men in Black organisation had kept around a depressed pile of goop. They’d kept it around because it was actually a hulking mass of muscle waiting to be returned to their skin suit. And when the other symbiote grinned a wicked row of teeth meant to rend chunks of flesh from creatures and charged at them, Eddie saw just how strong Venom truly was. They grabbed the other’s fists and threw them into the opposite container, enough to dent the other symbiote’s body into the metal.

With shocking agility, Venom jumped as a spear-like tendril drove itself into the concrete just at their feet. Venom hissed, having to leap from side to side to try get close once again. One speared their ankle before throwing them high into the air and smashing them into the ground below. Venom lay still, Eddie momentarily panicking before the other symbiote got close enough for them to grab their leg and toss them like a ragdoll.

Despite the fact that the alien was screeching and starting to go limp, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction at seeing the other thing go still after Venom had pummeled them into the ground. He expected them to leave or go find Flash with the thing incapacitated, but Eddie was not prepared to watch Venom take a hold of the other symbiote’s jaw and _pull_. It gradually detached, face deforming till it fell away into a swarm of tendrils, all layered slick with black and forest green. Eddie flinched at the once human face underneath that monstrous visage, the skin disintegrating without something keeping it stitched together. He was instantaneously grateful for Venom’s insistent, if not pedantic, care.

He was even more horrified when he felt their jaw unhinge, a thick tongue dipping into the symbiote before it was swallowed whole. He could feel it squirm for a moment before seemingly disappearing altogether.

_Again, what the-_

**“If you say that again we’ll deposit you in the _ocean._ ”**

 

Finding Flash in this form was as easy as locating a black dot on a white sheet of paper. Venom enjoyed the joyride, jumping from container to container, tongue whipping about in the air as they followed Flash’s scent of lavender and plastic.

_Are we going to talk about what just happened or no?_ Eddie asked, letting the alien lead them about, glad to not be on his own feet.

Venom came to a thundering halt, their claws hissing and tutting against the metal. **“What do you want to talk about?”** they questioned, taking a moment to catch the younger human’s scent once again.

_Maybe the fact that that guy was feasting on a human and cannibalising or, I donno, the fucking massive Venom in the room?_ He huffed, both ideas pressing against his head.

**“Hmm… Since we’re having a heart-to-heart session, we do consume the flesh of other beings in order to not eat away at our host's-”**

_Woah, woah- wait, have you been eating parts of me?!_

Venom shifted uncomfortably, flinching at the question before pacing on all fours. **“Please, Eddie, we wouldn’t do so. But… we have been losing much of our mass,”** they admitted, stalking to the edge of the container to glance down at the maze below them.

Eddie took a moment to understand what that meant. _You’ve been… you’ve been eating away at yourself?_ he asked, finally paying attention to what Venom was actually doing. He snorted as he realised they were staring down at the unsuspecting blonde wandering about the area.

**“Basically. And to answer your second question, this is our true form when correctly combined with our host. Now, we have someone to meet.”** Venom had barely finished before Eddie realised what they were going to do.

_Wait, wait, please this is_ high _don’t just-_ he screeched as they launched themselves off the container and came barreling into Flash, having leapt over a large distance to pin the other to the ground. With all due respect to Thompson, he had only squeaked when the alien had landed on top of him.

**“Hello, pretty morsel,”** Venom purred, licking up Flash’s cheek and chuckling as the male squirmed, face scrunched up in disgust despite it being shoved into the concrete.

“That’s so gross!” he whined, finding no reprieve or give from the symbiote, hands pinned next to his body. His expression turned into more of a frown as he came to a realisation. “Why are you Venom? Is Eddie passed out?”

They paused, clambering off the other agent only to stand a good head or two over him. **“Ran into another symbiote… they are not the one we are looking for,”** Venom stated simply, Eddie blanching before yelping _What do you mean?_

“How are you sure?”

**“Simple. They were far too weak to have taken down three men. Besides they mentioned a leader… that must be the Riot we are searching for,”** they replied, shrugging their broad shoulders. Being literally surrounded by Venom, Eddie got a distinct offhand emotion of worry, the bond so much brighter in his mind while being connected like this.

“Alright… then this was a waste of time-”

**“Not necessarily. Their imprint of a memory may have some clues,”** they mumbled, patting Flash on the back. **“Then we can make a proper move.”**

“Can I leave it to you two?” he asked, a grin spreading across Flash’s face. Venom easily returned the expression, tongue lashing out of a tooth-filled smile. Eddie paused, surprised to feel the inky darkness peel back from his face. He blinked, shocked at feeling that hefty weight in his mouth and how Venom’s teeth caressed his cheek with every breath.

“Su **re** ,” they whispered, voices smoothly blending into a harmony of promised violence and a new start.

 

 

Eddie yawned, head resting against the leather as the buildings began to crowd at the edges of the windows, skyscrapers pawing at the orange-clad sky. He glanced at the two in the front, Venom’s hand squeezing his palm. He blinked and they were deep in the heart of New York, Flash cursing at taxis and reckless drivers.

“Hey, you two wanna hop out? It isn’t too far of a walk,” He called, Venom pausing as they looked to their old friend. The sense of jealousy and animosity was so fleeting for them with the younger. Having watched him grow into such a gentleman was a treat on their list of “good deeds.” They manifested a hand to ruffle the already fuzzy ends of his hair, the other chuckling and batting at the claws.

Venom receded back to Eddie’s sleeve, tendrils gently caressing his skin before they fully pulled away. The two stumbled out onto the pavement, waving at the black car as Flash continued sitting in the 20 kilometres per hour traffic.

“So… where to?” Eddie asked, his bodymate directing his head to the left.

**That way… this place is familiar enough,** they mused, nudging him to the correct streets, suit now pressing comfortingly against his waist and shoulders.

He didn’t mind pausing to let Venom window shop, sometimes admiring something himself. The symbiote would stop him for any sweet store that caught their shared vision, Eddie only taking ten minutes to realise why saccharine colours would bleed into his eyes.

**Oh please, can we get some Eddie?** they cooed, swishing about in every single crevice Eddie owned. Their host wiped at his mouth as drool managed to escape his lips, huffing and rolling his eyes.

“Two things, alright? And- And-!” Before Venom could stride in an pick out an elaborate chunk of chocolate, he realised that putting in clearer boundaries would benefit his wallet.

“Nothing over 20$, okay?” he stated. He got a full body hug, surprise and embarrassment flickering onto his cheeks in a red gloss.

**Will be good, Eddie. Promise! Thank you, thank you,** they ranted, steering their host right into the store. The clerk barely looked up, but they offered a brief smile in the moment. Venom was elated and enticed, swinging around his body in every which way, picking up various bars and sneaking sniffs of the stuff while the clerk wasn’t looking - which was often. Eddie tried not to laugh as a whine echoed in his head, snorting as his other struggled to decide between a biscuit filled bar and a bear that gave a warm smile with an equally golden centre of caramel.

**Eddie…** they implored, poking at his thigh. The other shook his head, crossing his arms.

“I said two, no more. I know you are too interested in that Turkish Delight to leave it. Decide so we can get going. It’s getting late,” he replied under his breath, glancing between them himself. He frowned as he felt Venom physically sag against him, suit now loosening a bit off of his arms and near quivering. He let out a frustrated sigh, taking a moment to think. They both had been put through the wringer today…

He let the biscuit bar fall, flinching as he heard it snap as it hit the floor. Venom straightened, suit now clinging too tightly.

“Uh, sir?” Eddie turned to look at the nervous expression on the clerk’s suddenly attentive expression. “You’re gonna need to pay for that.”

He mock huffed, letting his expression fall a tad. “I- I get it… wasn’t planning on spending so much, but what can you do?” He breathed, looking downtrodden despite the growing glee radiating from Venom that was becoming infectious.

He walked out with Venom tighter than they had ever been, content to let their host snack on some of the broken chocolate.

It’s when they turned down another unfamiliar street, Venom slowed his steps and nudged his head to the side. This time it was slow as if being eased underwater.

 

**_You promised._ **

_Venom was sulking. Eddie knew that much. It was not a rare occurrence, but they had a range. Either it was ‘I may talk to you in an hour or so’ or ‘I will not stop talking till I get what I want.’ This was, unfortunately, the latter._

_“Venom, I promised you only if we got all our work done today,” he tried to reason, having explicitly stated this to the symbiote. However, Venom had the worst case of selective hearing that Eddie had ever seen. The mere mention of “donuts” in conjunction with “promise” had really just been a bad idea on his part._

**_But we did! We dealt with three essays and even managed to apprehend that thief from Habira,_ ** _they stated, whining as if they were bobbing next to his ear. Eddie groaned, tossing his head back in frustration._

_“We didn’t finish the other two, however, because_ someone _wanted to have an extra-long snack break,” he pointed out, slowing his pace as they came to the crossroads. His eyes drifted to the Krispy Kreme sign, wincing at the idea of the amount of calories Venom would digest. There was a prod at his motor cortex, his one foot moving on its own._

**_Please?_ **

_Oh god, Eddie was getting weak for this puddle of goop._

_“Fine. We can get four, you hear me? No more than that,” he firmly stated, his chest glowing as the symbiote thrusted a bundle of rosy scents and silken textures to his senses. He sighed, a smile unwittingly spreading across his face._

_Venom didn’t say anything but “thank you”s for the fifth donut clutched between Eddie’s fingers._

_He also didn’t mind the…_

 

**You haven’t changed much… not truly,** they mused as Eddie came back up for air, surprised to find it refreshing rather than a pain or jabbing hurt. Venom was stroking tendrils along his shoulders, willing away any knots or stiffness that he’d picked up just as he had filtered into the memory.

Despite the fact that it was a memory, it did feel like a dream. That sort of cozy domesticity was something Eddie had wanted for a long time- even if this one was related to an alien capable of breaking his spine.

“And is that a good thing?” He asked, pressing a slab to his sleeve. He couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips as a slightly slick but strong muscle brushed against his fingers and took the piece into Venom’s tiny maw which faded back into his suit.

**No… but you’ve definitely grown too... I’m glad we could meet you again, Eddie.**

“Yeah… me too.”

 

 

The next day was far from relaxing.

Flash had handed them a bunch of files, having fished out the phantom writings that Eddie couldn’t place. In a way, he was grateful that his handwriting had changed after his memories had been wiped. He didn’t think he could deal with that. Besides the paperwork and research, Venom was near silent as they pried apart the other symbiote’s mind. He decided not to disturb them lest the other get mad with him and demand they do something else.

He sighed, slapping down the fourteenth file, rubbing his temple as he stared at the pen tapping in his hand, in time with his restless legs.

**Ah, There!**

He nearly leapt out his seat at the sudden exclamation in the silence.

“Wait- what?”

**“We know where Riot is staying… it’s an abandoned lab under the name Life Foundation,”** they explained, glancing to Eddie as he rested his cheek on his palm and watched their bobbing head.

“I’ll give Annie and Flash a call to let them know,” he mumbled, eyes narrowing as he stared at the symbiote. They paused, neither making a move for his phone.

**“Aren’t you gonna…?”**

“Can I touch you?” Eddie suddenly blurted out, blinking at the alien who quickly adopted the same surprised look that their host sported. Knowing their host, he was likely not meaning to blurt that out like that. Venom thought it over, opening their maw only to have the other butt in. “S-Sorry, that- that must have come out a bit rude,” he tried, taking their silence as disapproval.

**_Typical Eddie._ **

They merely leaned closer, before grasping his hand with a tendril and holding his palm just in front of their visage, chuckling at the blush dusting over their host’s cheeks. It had always an endearing expression. **“We don’t mind,”** they stated, letting the appendage sink back into their body.

He was hesitant. That much was apparent by how he retracted his hand a tad before reaching forward again. With a shock, they realised that this was how they had treated him when they had met. His fingers were still calloused, rough and giving every inch of care into the touch. They let him run his fingerprints between their eyes, replicating the prints all along their body with a shiver. It was such a special thing, a fingerprint. Unique to every human yet so easy to erase with enough chemicals or a misplaced digit on the stove. To have these small moments made Venom all the more hopeful that this could work out for them- that Eddie was still there, no matter how deep the scars ran.

His eyes shone as he ran a hand over their cheek, Venom bearing their teeth to the human. He flinched back for a second, the symbiote returning the gesture by quickly hiding their teeth and growing a bit shy. Eddie seemed to steel himself, reaching out again despite his instincts to run from a clear predator like this. He ran his fingers along the seam of their mouth, gently prying open to feel the grooves in each razor. Venom relaxed, smile returning as their eyes curled into a smooth curve.

“Wow… Never thought this was how I would be spending my Friday,” Eddie chuckled, still enamoured with their maw and how their body shifted into such high details of tiny arches and tendrils all knotted together.

**“Me neither…”** they responded, jerking at the implications.

Eddie frowned, his brows furrowing together as he leant closer, running his hand over their head. “Well, I’m glad we could get you out of there,” he mused, stroking along the sleek form. A monstrously deep purr had him laughing, the brightest and most genuine one he had wheezed out in weeks.

Venom couldn’t get enough of it.

But they did have another symbiote to apprehend.

 

 

 

Eddie paused at the wire fences of the decrepit building, eyebrows furrowed. “Alright… guess it's time to try this again,” he mumbled, Venom easily dissolving the pristine suit into a sludge that quickly swarmed over his face, a tongue barely licking his cheek before they grinned that vicious smile.

**“Hmm, you used to love the hunt,”** they chimed in, clambering over the fence with ease. Eddie rolled his eyes, letting his form be maneuvered in this strange and very much alive cocoon.

_Is that so?_ He asked, curious as the shambling behemoth crashed through the rusted doors, breaking the hinges as they trotted inside. Flash was coming in on the other side with a weapon of his own, something that he kept very quiet and claimed to be a ‘last resort.’ The nerves on his face had even made his bodymate concerned, but not enough for them to pry.

**“Yes. Used to feast on bad guys, but the chase, the _adrenaline_ … you used to get lost in it,”** they continued to muse aloud, scaling wrecked machinery and battering through closed doors that were on their last legs. Jumping up through the elevator, after tearing a hole in it, they found themselves in a lush reception. The plants had swept up and claimed the area as their own, coming in through the windows and overflowing out of their flowerbeds- a cage that nature refused to surrender to.

They were careful, the tip tap of claws on smooth laminated floors being the loudest noise in the area. The sound of dripping water was soothing. Until it became a harsh click clack that barreled straight at the pair.

Venom barely managed to miss the spines that dug right through the flooring, silver shimmering in the moonlight that clawed its way through the broken roof. Their teeth bared in a snarl as they saw their true opponent.

_Oh god, fuck, that thing’s ugly._

Riot landed heavily onto the ground, suddenly charging at them with the intent to kill. Venom hadn’t fought them in a long time, dodging the claws once only to have another tear down their side. They roared, being answered with a fierce howl as they dug their teeth into the other symbiote’s shoulder. They screamed as Venom lived up to their name, acidic bile forming at the back of their throat to coat the alien. Riot reared up and smacked them away, spines digging out of their spine and now sprouting from their shoulders.

**“Couldn’t stay away, could you, you fucking traitor!”** the thing hissed, coming in for a second charge, Venom more ready this time. Riot was significantly stronger than them, yet Venom had the upper hand of being more connected and in tune with their host.

**“And you couldn’t bear to see me leave, could you?”** they easily taunted, being rewarded with a hefty shoved that pierced through a decent amount of their hide. Panic surged up from Eddie, who got a glimpse of a spine on Riot’s shoulder, just a few centimeters from his stomach. Venom hissed, covering the wound as a worse sense of fear hit them.

**“Please. You just happened to be a thorn in my side for far too long. You’ll die here. Both of you,”** Riot promised, grappling Venom and tossing him straight into a wall, the force enough for Eddie to feel the wind knocked out of his lungs. Before another blow was dealt, however, they had slipped away, using the opening that Riot had tried to take as their own. For a moment, Venom felt Eddie synchronize with them, their fist clipping Riot’s jaw, hurling him backwards into a tree that was sprouting over the pot it was kept in.

**“You have no idea what you’re messing with,”** Venom warned, ducking under the pot that was tossed at their head, eyes narrowing. **“And you’ll never understand it… the true strength of a bond,”** they sneered, grabbing a slab of concrete and hurling it at Riot who merely shattered it with their arm that had morphed into that familiar axe.

_Vee… I don’t know if this is a good idea,_ Eddie tried, his gut twisting as something felt off. In a moment, Eddie whipped them around and just managed to avoid the blur of red and yellow that nearly knocked them sideways. He wobbled from the sudden overtake of control, Venom just as surprised.

**“More lackies… We don’t know if we can take them- not together,”** they huffed, mouth open and panting from dealing with Riot’s blows.

**“Let me take care of this one, Riot… we promise to bring them back for you,”** the creature spoke, assuming the silhouette of a female as their wild tendrils created hair that seemed to blow in a breeze only existing within their biosphere. Venom growled low, eyes narrowed as they glared up at the two symbiotes.

Taking a stand, Venom hissed, breaking into a sprint to get the leader. They failed to dodge past the other symbiote, yowling as her claws sank into their hide. Frustration bubbled between them as Riot bounded higher, watching and waiting for their dirty work to be done.

**“Fucking coward-!”** They staggered as the sunset coloured symbiote bashed into them, talons long and ferociously sharp. They threw their arms up, unable to keep healing over and over that fast, a genuine feeling of dread dawning on them as they sunk deep enough to yank out Eddie’s bare arms. **“No! Leave him alone!”** they screeched, barely able to hear themselves as their host suddenly let out a broken scream, those claws creating ribbons out of the skin on his arms.

It took a tremendous amount of effort to shove the symbiote off, Venom instantly covering their host, their _friend_ , the growing terror of losing Eddie again making them lose focus.

A second later they were plunged headfirst into a memory.

 

_“Vee, Venom,_ stop _,” Eddie wheezed, grasping at his soaked chest, blood washing over his palms as he tried to shuffle away from the symbiote._

**_Don’t do this,_ ** _they begged, tendrils already beginning to thread under his skin._

_The sob shook out more crimson from their partner’s lips, eyes struggling to hold onto that spark. “You_ need _to save her… You’ll live, find another life,_ please _, Venom,” he continued to try, hands barely able to move and voice growing muffled as the rain continued to pour and wash the wounds on the two humanoids._

_They were meant to be the Princess’ escort. Get her home safely. Yet, even so, Thrien and Eddie lay on a rooftop in San Francisco, both suffering mortal stabs through the abdomen. For Venom it was an easy choice. For Eddie it was an easy choice._

_For both of them? It was the worst choice._

**_We’re sorry._ **

_Eddie’s throat couldn’t conjure up a scream of frustration, too coated with the life that was straining out onto the gravel._

_The world went black._

_Usually, it was comforting._

_But not today with the hulking beast of San Francisco cradling a frail woman in their arms, host tucked away and forcibly sedated with the rain still pounding on overhead._

 

Eddie came out gasping and rage bubbling between the two of them. Whether it was second-hand from the memories or the present, it didn’t matter. Venom’s lust for revenge and blood draped over them, both ragged with the sudden thrill of losing themselves to one another.

They howled in tandem, rushing at the other symbiote, senses on high alert as they wove under the blows threatening to connect. Even when they did, tearing through to clip Eddie’s very fragile skin, they didn’t stop. It was addictive. Watching the growing confusion and sickening wish to see the body broken was pushing them to a new limit.

As talons tore across Eddie’s cheek, they grasped the other’s head between their palm, digging their own claws in and yanking. As their tongue slid over their host’s flayed face, the other symbiote struggled to stay attached.

“Ha **lf bre** ed, you **des** erve wh **at’s com** ing to y **ou** ,” the pair growled, smirks wide and eyes agleam. The stretch of the other alien under their pull, grinning all the while as they came apart. Jaw opening, and poised for feeding, they waited for just a moment too late for Riot to knock them prone once again. Claws raised to strike, Venom hissed in frustration, waiting for the pain to shudder along them.

However, the resounding screech from behind the dueling pair had Riot momentarily distracted, enough so for Venom to shove him off only to pause at the scene before them.

They knew that armour.

They knew it well… except for the predominance of white.

Flash raised two pistols, tendrils lashing out about him as he struggled to stabilise the connection. The red and yellow was now just a smear on the floor, barely shifting or writhing as it had been a moment or two ago. Riot roared, charging at the other only to punch with that devastating vaccine, Riot withering as it stung right through to the person underneath. Yet, before Flash could grab them, the symbiote took a decision they hadn’t made in such a long time that it was startling the second they did it.

Riot retreated.

Venom closed up over their partner’s face to pull together the mangled skin and muscle. **“Agent Anti-Venom,”** they grumbled, retreating into Eddie’s body as a way of a begrudging greeting, leaving the other in sweatpants and a loose shirt.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it,” Flash huffed, managing to control the erratic half-shell of a symbiote to place them back into the container strapped to his back.

Eddie was quiet. His hand strayed to his abdomen, pressing there. Everything seemed off about those memories. Like there was a piece that wasn’t slotting into place. The coil of emotions that radiated off the two of them was vibrant and tense.

“What happened… that night?” he whispered, fingernails digging into the flesh like there was a wound still there, still gaping and still dying- Venom’s tendrils yanked his hand from his stomach, forming into a clawed grip to squeeze tightly enough that five pinpricks welled up on the back of his hand.

Flash frowned, glancing rapidly between their entwined hands and Eddie’s forlorn expression.

“Why do I feel so _sad_ all the time? W-Why do I feel so disgraceful?” he continued to question, grasping at straws from the few memories that had been unearthed as of late. Yet all his mind could do was watch the upturned thoughts crumble through the cracks. Never enough information but enough to keep him guessing.

**“It… it wasn’t your fault- always blamed yourself- never us, never anyone else,”** they assured, the words seeming so familiarly painful. The insecurity, the edging demons that Venom couldn’t always fend off.

**“Princess Thrien was our charge. We were meant to keep her safe until we got to the designated landing area. We barely got out of New York before we were attacked. We can’t remember much. We remember you both screaming, being torn to pieces. When we came to… you both were in critical states. I made the choice to save you… you know, it’s funny- we nearly sparked an intergalactic war over _one person_ … yet I never, ever regretted it… I never will.”**

Both humans were stunned to the spot.

Flash had _never_ heard the symbiote speak with singular pronouns. Eddie was dazed from the wave of information mixed in with a hefty cocktail of emotions and recovery from his wounds. Venom’s projection was overwhelming, purples of all different shades coalescing over his vision in a blinding array of something so hauntingly beautiful that he found tears on his cheeks.

“Why… why would you do something like that for- for someone like me?” he questioned, words barely scraping past his throat.

A dazzling hit of magenta blinded him for a moment.

**“You’ll just have to keep guessing.”**

 

 

And Eddie did- long into the night, in fact. Besides the gruelling moment of violence, it was also overshadowed by the cascade of colours that flooded his brain the second he closed his eyes. Flash had glanced at him at each stop light on the way back, eyebrow raised as if he was still struggling to comprehend what had occurred back at the dilapidated building.

Eddie shoved his palms into his eyes, a yawn cracking his jaw as he wrestled with trying to sleep. Sitting up, he crawled out of bed, head ruffled and pyjamas creased as he shuffled out his room. Venom dripped off him only to reabsorb, the symbiote in their strange stasis that they assumed as he slept. Apparently, they delved into the Hive Brain as they did in hopes to keep them occupied. He chose not to press as to what the fuck the Hive Brain was.

He wasn’t necessarily surprised to find himself standing outside of his office in the dead of night, faltering as he tripped over one of Venom’s tendrils. He snorted, smiling to himself as he shoved open the door, slumping down in the very much imprinted chair, glancing at the piles of files he and other agents had compiled. Narrowing his eyes, he sat up and pursed his lips.

He paused before selecting one more red file, blinking down at the words through blurred vision. He skim read, barely paying attention before a thought hit him like a freight train. He scrambled up, having to shove a few papers off his desk before finding a button. Pressing it brought up a partially obscured hologram. Finger digging into the stash of toffees and chocolates by the side of his desk, he hurriedly pressed in a word into the search engine flickering in and out of existence.

_Thiern, Symbiotes_

He huffed at the very few articles that came up, scooting closer to bring up a few. Some of them were slanderous, exclaiming Venom’s failures- _human’s_ failures as being unacceptable. Many called for the jailing of the symbiote. Looking further, it wasn’t only just because of one incident.

_Symbiotes: Parasites in Disguise_.

_Weary Travellers, Beware!_

_Sectors of Galaxies to Never Visit_

_Klyntar: Kin or Killers?_

Eddie swallowed thickly, chewing fervently at a chunk of sugar stuck in his molar. He paused, however, at the articles stamped with the Men in Black “MIB ORIGINAL”  tag. He quickly narrowed the dwindling pages, blinking at the few last pieces.

_Venom: Subject File_

_Final Ruling on Thiern Case_

_Video: E.B and V. Interrogation_

He paused, barely brushing against Venom’s consciousness least he wake the alien. He huffed as he got no response, curling up and clicking on the first file, opening the second to the side.

The first wasn’t of too much use. It was factual, focused on what exactly Venom _was_ , both as a single entity and a bonded creature. However, there were dotted notes, jotted down in the margins and paragraphs. He zoomed in, frowning at the erratic handwriting. It took a few moments to click. The sudden changes in steadiness and lettering mingled in with his own scrawl. In a sense, the sentences seemed to follow as more of a conversation than anything else.

**Incorrect** _then correct it_ **no our secret** _it’s not really a secret_ **hush**

The section was deftly circled, despite Venom’s insistence to hide the truth. He raised an eyebrow. The section only spoke, briefly, on the relationship between a symbiote and its host, namely Eddie. It didn’t seem to have anything wrong- his eyes widened as he reread the section, blinking in surprise.

... _symbiotes require a steady diet of phenethylamine and thus require an active shipment of chocolate and brains. If it cannot be avoided, Venom is allowed to kill in order to feed (See: Act 67, Black Subset). If host degredates, Venom is to be removed immedi-_

Eddie quickly closed the tab, feeling a bit sick. He’d assumed only the evil-ass symbiotes ate other creatures regularly- like as a fear tactic, or-or for fun. The blob that had gotten a belly ache due to eating too many sweets couldn’t _really_ crave stuff like that, right? Furthermore, how was Venom not hungry? Unless…

He tried not to gag as his mind helpfully supplied him with the reminder of the regular smoothies Flash would supply. He’d told it was for Venom’s health, but _oh god_ , he’d have never thought they were anything but treats that Flash had been spoiling them with. Now it made a lot more sense as to why they had non-stop complained about it being “dead.” The grey sludge was actually grey _matter_. He jotted down a note to talk with Venom about it later.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair before pulling up the next tab.

The writing was painfully familiar, almost taunting in the normality of it. It was a newspaper article of some sort, filled with unfamiliar symbols on advertisements that only now clicked as he popped another toffee into his mouth. It seemed to be an article written by the organisation, his foot swinging as he scanned the writing.

“ _After the incident, Brock and the Klyntar, known as Venom, have been sentenced to after_ _numerous impediments on the regulations. They are to be decommissioned and split, following evidence that the killing was intentional.”_

Eddie frowned, narrowing his eyes. _Numerous impediments? What did we do?_ He wondered, glancing back to the roughly scribbled “eats brains??” Yet, those jumbled memories said that they couldn’t have done it. Venom was rough and demanding, yes, but they weren’t necessarily stupid. Maybe when it came to microwaves and how not to burn food, but naivety was not a sin. 

He closed the tab, reopening the search to have it scan through MIB certified documents on “neuralising” before finally playing the clip.

 

_Eddie was anxious, that much was clear._

_Venom swirled about them, lancing off in arches and sweeps. Destabilised and scared._

_He could see he was mumbling something, too quiet for the camera to pick up, yet occasionally there was the backdrop of a rumble. The scene was no doubt an interrogation room, the place empty save for two chairs and a table. This one just looked sterile and painfully clean, like the walls would reflect the light if they were given a wipe._

_The pair’s heads snapped to attention when a man walked in, drawing the chair back to take a seat. Observing the face, it seemed like the man was Carlton Drake, if not a tad older with sharper cheekbones and a confidence that was felt through the screen._

_“Alright, Brock, Venom,” he greeted, tapping papers together._

Eddie watched himself lean back in the chair, arms crossed and assuming the “I am frightened and would very much like not to show it” expression. He knew it well from getting into sticky situations when working as a reporter.

_“So, first question… where were you when Princess Thiern was murdered?”_

_For a moment, past Eddie flinched, lips curling into a snarl that left as fast as it had come._

_“Guarding her, where else? We were her guardian for her trip,” he said, eyes narrowing as he watched Drake hastily scribbled down some notes._

_“And in your previous statement, you said that you have no true recollection of the night?” Drake continued, a prim and plucked eyebrow rising._

_“Yes. Venom and I were transporting her to her residence. We remember carrying her and then suddenly I was on the ground bleeding.”_

_“Despite that, the Princess had bruises on her arms and clear points of pinpricks matching the breadth of Venom’s palms.”_

_“That may be true, but there are many species of alien that could make those markings-”_

_“And of course, we have the main point of evidence. Symbiotes are known to consume brains for sustenance and devour mostly any organism with enough flesh. So why was the Princess’ head missing?”_

Eddie gulped, digging his fingers into his pants, eyes glued to the screen.

_Drake slid over the damning photos, both parties refusing to look at them._

_“It was clean, precisely done. Agent B, we know of your gradually worsening condition and the symbiote’s influence on your mental health,” past Eddie flinched as Drake put a hand over his, Venom snarling overhead, condensing into their hulking form._

**_“Do not speak of us as if we are not here. We have rights, just like you. The reason for our outbreaks is due to the poor intake of phenethylamine and even then we did not kill one of our own,”_ ** _they argued, grabbing at the photos and shoving them back onto Drake’s lap._

_“Then tell me, Venom… who did this? You were there, yet you both conveniently can’t remember the night?” Drake wondered aloud, leaning in closer with his hands neatly knitted under his chin. “Both of you protecting someone alone, low on your main source of food and having frequent outbursts of violence? It all seems clear to me.”_

_“We didn’t hurt her… why would Venom have hurt me?” Eddie questioned, gaze full of malice as he stared down the other agent._

_“See… Thiern was a Farropa. A species that has an excellent defensive system yet is incredibly fragile. When they are attacked, they launch spines in all directions, similar to how puffer fish puff up when threatened. This is only instigated, however, when blood is drawn. I think you grabbed her too hard, activated the defence reflex, and accidentally got stabbed before diving in for the kill,” Carlton Drake outlined, patting down his suit as he observed the annoyed pair._

_“Am I right?”_

_“ **W** e do **n’t re** mem **ber, idio** t,” they growled, voices perfectly meshed in a harmony meant for a demon. Not a creature that was fascinated by balloons and protective of babies._

_Drake sighed, glancing over to the camera before standing and making his way over to shut it off._

He leant back in his chair, tapping a pen to his lips.

Questions roamed about in his mind. _But where are the spines? Could Venom prohibit memory like they could with his muscles? Would they truly go rogue for just one bite?_ Eddie sighed, lazily flicking to the other search tab.

He blinked at the thousands upon thousands of documents, gawking at the amount. Many were incident related, such as the Marfa lights fiasco in Texas, but others seemed to be mundane. He paused, managing to find more of a manual than an actual article.

_“...Neuralising is a process in which memories can be extracted in order to censor the individual's contact with aliens.”_

No wonder he couldn’t remember any of this. Clicking back to the article, he sighed, flicking through a few more pages before growing bored. Scanning the dimly lit table, he picked up a pile he’d scanned through a few times already. It was any and every file that mentioned Venom.

One last look…

 

Eddie woke feeling groggy, stretching out on the perfectly moulded bed. Hell, he hadn’t slept that well in a _while_ -

A squeak squeezed past his airway as his foot refused to meet solid ground as he threw it off the side. In fact, the whole bed was tilting, Eddie finding himself gradually sliding off. Yet before he could end up on the floor in a heap of cramping muscles and sprained joints, a firm tendril wrapped around his waist and hoisted him back onto the hammock. The lull brought him back to the present, taking the moment to observe the canvas that stretched from one wall to another. Settling back down, he found himself being gently rocked, warmth caressing his back.

**Good morning, Eddie,** the symbiote purred, satisfaction blooming across their bond.

“Good mornin’,” came the reply, host content to be coddled for a few more minutes. Eddie couldn’t deny how comfortable it was. The alien was rippling up along his back, soothing aching muscles that he hadn’t treated kindly. Venom lowered him onto his feet, chuckling as they ruffled his hair.

**Enjoy doing your research?** They asked tentatively, Eddie blissed out on the massage.

“Hmm mm,” he hummed, jaw cracking with the size of his yawn.

**Learn anything about Riot?** Venom continued, prodding at their host who was barely keeping upright with his sleep-deprived body. He merely shrugged his shoulders, glancing at all the pages. **Learn anything about… us?** They quietly prodded, Eddie taking notice that the symbiote was starting to spread across the room, a familiar sign of anxiety from the creature.

“A bit… oh yeah, when were you going to tell me those bloody shakes were actually brains?” he questioned, vision blurred as he rubbed his eyes and stared up at the visage that was currently attempting to avoid his gaze and doing a fantastic job.

**Need them, lo- Eddie… always hungry** , they exhaled, sounding far more exasperated than what their host might have expected.

“Just… heads up next time, ‘kay?” he grumbled, running a hand over Venom’s head, paying close attention to the spot between their eyes. They seemed to like it there the most. A hum shared the space, air rippling with the baritone voice rolling underneath it.

It was then that Flash shoved open the door, announcing himself with the wafting smell of black coffee and… the brainshake. Venom perked up, tendrils snatching the drink from the agent before he even had a chance to introduce himself. The two humans chuckled, exchanging chatter while Eddie downed his wake-up call mixed with an alarm.

“You better be grateful, friend,” Flash mused, turning to his mentor’s desk to dig around for their stash of sweets.

“Why’s that?” Eddie snorted and took a seat on the edge of the desk, peering over to see what he picked.

“You and I? We’ve got the day off! Fury says we’ve been working hard and Venom needs to be checked up,” the younger trilled, thoroughly enjoying the bizarre pieces of fudge Eddie had come to love.

“And you chose to come burst into my office to wake me up?” he chuckled, Venom nudging Flash’s hand for a piece of the treat. Watching them snatch up the fudge and then roll their tongue around to finally get to the spicy flavoured popping candy was a show in itself. He grimaced when they stuck out the appendage to show off their discovery and to listen to the pops- then again, the grin on their expression was grotesque but oddly adorable in its own right.

**“Can we go to the woods again?”** Venom questioned politely, despite the fact that their tongue was lolling out of their mouth. Eddie had been reluctant in such an endeavour, considering what had occurred last time. He scratched at the back of his neck, huffing and puffing before nodding.

“Yeah, sure… why not? Wanna join us, Flash?” he enquired, shivering at the tint of navy that swarmed the edges of his vision. Was Venom… disappointed? Thankfully, the colour receded the moment that Flash shook his head, being replaced by a warm salmon.

“What, you got a date tonight?” he teased, nudging the younger’s side. The atmosphere seemed to chill over, Venom drooping slightly before withdrawing a good portion of themselves back into the crevices of Eddie’s body. At this point, he should have expected a mood swing at some point during each conversation.

“Ahem, n-no, I don’t… there’s not too much dating within the organisation- dangerous and all that,” Flash tried to smooth over the tension, poor guy.

“Nah, just wondering… hey, Vee?” that familiar noodle appeared, eyes downcast and their form not holding as well as expected.

“Do you want to get Chinese this evening and head out? Have a night of two lonely losers eating chow mein in a wheat field?”

The way that Venom lit up was intoxicating.

Their eyes grew and shone, iridescent and indescribably gorgeous. He swore there were colours that he’d never seen before in the endless white, something a mere human eye was oblivious to.

**“We’d love to have that honour.”**

 

 

Drake knew this sound well. That rumble of displeasure and increasingly antsy behaviour, words so contained that there was not enough space in his body to pace. As much as Riot prided himself on being a tactical leader, the symbiote was horrifically impatient.

**Why do we wait? That garbage pile of a pathetic traitor can be easily lured away, hunted down-**

“Riot, there’s a time and a place. I know you don’t harbour much of it, but have some faith in me to deliver,” Carlton glanced out his high top office, overseeing the main floor of the Headquarters. His eyes tracked the scruffy man currently chattering away on his phone, suit shimmering in the fluorescent lights.

“Besides… it won’t be long now.”

**Yes, soon we’ll be by Knull’s side, with all the power we could ever want.**

 

 

Getting the Chinese had ended up being around 6 different plates with Venom insisting on a variety of stranger meals, including an order of eel nigiri from a sushi place down the road. Eddie struggled to fit it all on his bike, finding it a nightmare, but doable. He’d plucked the last half of the Turkish Delight chocolate, packing it the inside pocket of his jacket. The symbiote decided to form him a snug helmet both to keep their host safe and so they could feel the wind on their face. Throughout the drive, Venom was purring over the motor, the two occasionally harmonizing, much to Eddie’s amusement. Despite the interesting arrangement, the food made it in -mainly- one piece. The nigiri was soaked in soy sauce and some oil had slicked the bottom of the cooler, but otherwise, everything seemed intact. The walk was no issue with an alien companion fueling each muscle to well beyond human capacities.

Either way, the view was spectacular.

It was a stunner, really, definitely one of Eddie’s favourites to date.

He set up an old blanket he’d found in the back of his closet, laying out the food and lying back on the flattened stalks. Venom took their time in forming, dipping into the broth and crunching on carrots before growing bigger to take in mouthfuls of noodles and broccoli. Knowing his bodymate, Eddie sat up to dig in lest they end up eating every last morsel. They chatted and laughed at each other’s stupid puns, Venom’s humour just coming into fruition. In a way, it felt right.

It felt so _right_.

He paused, glancing to the strangest plot twist in his life, balancing his sweet and sour pork on one knee as he whipped out his phone and took a photo. The alien was quick to shift their attention from rambling on about different biscuits to hyper fixating on Eddie.

**“Did you just take a photo of us?”** they grinned, all bass and curiosity. He nodded, leaning closer to show Venom the photo. The symbiote was paused mid-speech, noodles dangling from a pair of chopsticks dwarfed by their sheer size. Their eyes were blown wide, smile not menacing nor manic. Once you got past the teeth and brain eating part, the alien was really just an inquisitive and excitable labrador with a knack for talking and being able to throw a Ford Ranger if it felt like it. Glancing up only proved his point. They were lit up, admiring the image, pointing out little details like the carrot jammed between two of the many canines in their mouth. He was more focused on the colours dipping in and out of the shifting material that they were made up of.

“You know… It’s nice not being entirely lonely all the time,” Eddie mumbled, a smile pulling at his lips. Venom’s eyes darted across his face, claws coming up to rasp along his scalp.

**“We know the feeling.”**

He glanced up from the pineapple and peppers in his dish, watching the other- no, _his_ other. He put his plate to the side, sitting up straighter, throat going dry. “I’ve been thinking… um, I’m… I’m willing to give this long term thing a shot,” he huffed, hands shifting about as he avoided Venom’s eyes. They leant down, tilting their head. _Yup, definitely like a puppy._

**“We’ve known this, Eddie. We’ve told you your synapses are loud,”** they proclaimed, seeming proud of such an observation. **“We enjoy it. It means you are here, that you are _alive_ ,” **they breathed, butting up against his shoulder. For the first time in a long time, Venom felt a flush of pink from their host.

“Was I… Was I really that special to you?”

That seemed to be the first question he had ever asked that had thrown the symbiote off. Even so, they didn’t truly hesitate to answer.

**“Yes. You always have been and forever will be.”**

Eddie paused.

It was right, wasn’t it? The way they were meant to be.

He leant up.

Venom met him halfway.

Kissing an alien with more teeth than lips was a lot easier than he expected. He sighed, eyes slipping shut only to be greeted with a cosmos before him. There were stars he’d never hope to see, nebulae that threw arches into the abyss, colours dazzling in every way imaginable.

It was perfect.

The next second that tongue was flooding past the seam of his lips, owning whatever he had to give. Eddie grasped at Venom’s neck, trying to find something to centre himself with. There was a press on his chest, light and pleading, Eddie letting them lay him down. Straight into the sweet and sour pork. Both of them froze… only to burst into uproarious laughter.

Venom’s were wheezing howls while Eddie could barely breathe, sitting up with a very apologetic alien struggling to form coherent words. In the end, he was basically licked clean, non-stop chuckles and snorts slipping out as he was cuddled close.

He rested his head on Venom’s chest, enjoying the private heater that they gave off.

**Eddie?**

“Yeah?”

**“We love you.”**

That grated sound, said so softly and lovingly from a predator capable of snapping him in half on a whim… well, it was a lot. He did his best to wrap his arms around Venom’s waist, unable to help the lovesick grin on his face.

“Love you too…”

**“And Eddie… we… we have one more secret,”** they mumbled, orange flaring up despite the fact that the stars were already dominating the sky.

“I’m all ears-”

It was sudden and unexpected, yet Venom was never too careful. They yanked him to the side, protecting their host as a jagged spine pinned the blanket to the ground. They bellowed, Eddie quickly finding himself merging with his other, both baring their teeth at the intruder. Riot gleamed in the moonlight, silver pale against the sky. **“Sorry to break up your tea party, but we’ve got a score to settle and I like it to be in my favour,”** the symbiote called, stepping down from the tree he had been perched on. **“Besides, your display was growing sickening.”**

Eddie was shocked to feel the heat of shame settle in his chest, rust corroding their sight. _He’s just jealous,_ he assured, caressing their cheek with one hand. Venom snickered, leaning into the touch for a moment before returning to focus on the more pressing issue. **“We couldn’t stomach you even if we tried,”** they taunted, standing to face the threat head-on.

Yet, as they moved forward as one, charging up speed to tackle Riot, something else clicked.

And this…

This felt _wrong_.

That usual blend of colours flew by too fast, blinding Eddie as they bounded after something that was just a notch lower than hellbent on killing them. He hissed as their feet dug into the ground in a halt, breath coming hoarse out of their starved throat. A plethora of colours blinded him for a moment, caught between their realisation and Venom’s erratic thoughts. They were bleeding together, the edges of Eddie and Venom now drowning in a room that was quickly filling up with nowhere to escape to.

**“prote- all cos… fail, up, redemption, must protect-”** their jaw hung loosely, words slurred in the liquid threatening to consume their lungs and finally tear apart common sense. Eddie couldn’t gather himself, couldn’t really… no, this… this had gone past ‘we’ and into ‘I’ with no ‘me’ or ‘you’ in between.

**“Once again, you fall so far, Venom. We must admit, you actually might have posed a problem,”** Riot’s sneer was a buzz in the back of my head. It’s _Eddie_ and _Venom_ , it was meant to be- team? Bu-t they’re one? My, our? A flash of a memory, a bare scraping of recollection, physical and mental. Venom was something eldritch rather than monstrous. Eyes peeling downwards and teeth beginning to jut right out of their host’s skin, they took a step forward.

**“Kn** ow NoT **hing** of **bOnDi** ng, o **F stReng** th, miND **lesS** in Po **Wer** ,” I’m whispers, rattles, as mine form continues to morph, the pain, god the _pain_.

Eddie bursts out of the room for air.

_‘Wrong, something’s **wrong**.’_

Their bond was almost too palpable, so thick that it was digging up and undoing every synapse in his mind, melding it and replacing. Venom was drunk on it, struggling against this bizarre self-destruction. Suddenly, their rage returns and stills the process for just a moment. They recenter, Venom bristling as they manage to coalless into a familiar form. The frantic wash of teal that Eddie is forced to take to the heart practically burns with the intensity of it.

**_Eddie… we… we can’t-_ **

He’s sure if they could, Venom would be sobbing, sounding so distraught and confused that it hurts his ears.

_Focus, we need to focus-_

**“-ignorant, you’re eating each other alive… the best part is neither of you remembers why, do you?”** It’s a mockery that finally solidifies them. The teal might be falling into Eddie’s mouth with the overlap, but that deep-rooted stroke of crimson burns the back of his eyes, blurring their vision. The resounding growl has Riot’s grin splitting wider into a cackle.

**“That’s too good! You’ll never see the next day, either way, but we have forgotten how delicious your defeat tastes,”** the symbiote drawls, arm curving into a blade that causes a shiver to ripple down Eddie’s spine. Venom, on the other hand, brings up their hands and digs their heels into the stalks that attempt to pierce through the soles of their feet.

And Riot barreled towards them, blade drawn as he attempts to quarter them. A bite snapped too close for comfort, getting an eyeful of worn teeth and the rancid stench of something very dead. Venom ducked under the vicious onslaught, constantly having to play on the defensive. Any charge forward seemed to nearly make them into a kebab.

They growled low, just skirting around a stab. In a split second, Eddie grabs the blade, catching Riot off guard long enough to yank him closer. A grin splitting their visage, Venom tears at the other symbiote, instincts kicking in. Yet, Riot suddenly reforms around on their fists, leaving the wide open. The blade catches their side as the fight becomes a lot more one-sided. Venom hisses and sputters as any progress seems to be put back whenever they have to shift from the cleaver that was determined to lob their head off. Funny how desperation leads to decent ideas.

Venom chose to fall backward, planting them on Riot’s chest and heaving, the silver-clad symbiote stretching like taffy around their arm. When the bonds snap and Venom is barely grazed with a cut, they heave the other off them, scrambling to their feet. He howls, weapon shifting into a flail.

_Oh tits, that’s no good._

From there it becomes a flight rather than fight situation, considering that stupid thing could extend far further than expected. Venom scrambled to the woods, rendering the flail useless in such close proximity. Even so, they camouflage better in the shadows of the leaves than anywhere else. Riot stalked about, constantly sniffing the air.

_What’s he doing?_

**Trying to find our scent… we need to go, there's not a lot to work with here-**

They just managed to duck under a larger branch, watching the spikes shoot out from Riot’s back and sink through the tender pine, sap instantly weeping onto the floor below them. They huff, leaping down onto the symbiote while he’s recovering from the exertion. Their jaw dislocates, snapping down on the other’s shoulder, having to jump off almost instantly as more spines erupt, threatening to skewer them.

**“You can’t win, Venom… I am the superior,”** he grins at them, eyes dilated to crescents.

**“We will win, whether you like it or not,”** they sneer, ignoring the many scrapes that the blade skimmed through Venom and onto Eddie.

**“Is that so? You’re running out of time and energy, Venom… we both know you are.”**

They flinch at that, a howl ricocheting between the leaves and branches. It’s a landslide of emotions, clearly meant to be hidden from Eddie. There’s an ebbing tide of navy, highlighted in teals with orange beaches.

Terror. Utter terror.

Riot surges forward, unnaturally light for his size, their new bond too volatile to get them both coordinated or agreeing with one another amidst the panic. They stumble, predator turned prey. It doesn’t take long before he catches up, a  spine spearing through their thigh. In unison, Eddie and Venom scream, dropping to the ground, barely able to crawl.

**“I’m going to enjoy this.”**

A clawed grip seizes their crown, yanking Eddie’s head back at an awkward angle, both fighting to desperately hold onto one another. Their fangs knick his cheeks and forehead, yet he still struggles, atoms being peeled away one by agonising one.

**Eddie- Eddie, listen to m-** they cry out, host moaning with the excruciating pain.

_Vee, don’t go, god please no- don’t leave me, don’t…_

**Riot wants to unleash our god into the world. I-It’s here… it’s in the vault, you have the keys-**

_Wait- wait, how do you-? What will happen to you? Venom, you can’t-_

**We are sorry, Eddie… just remember that we love you, and always will…**

For a moment everything fades into nothing, prying something that shouldn’t have been touched. A budding flower crushed under the weight of a boot.

Jerking back to reality, feeling the height of Venom’s absence, Eddie doesn’t give up because of that. 

Eddie was in the air, feet dangling uselessly under him.

And he knows… he’s going to die.

His breath felt too warm while his chest struggled to rise, merely continuing to fall and cave in around the blade shoved through his sternum. He hacks, staring at the spatter that dribbles from his lips and onto the undulating flesh. Riot recoils at that, yanking their arm out harshly, the silence pervading his thoughts- all too oppressive and unforgiving. In fact… it was familiar in the worst way.

He coughed as his body crumpled onto the grass, digging their treacherous knives into his bare skin. Rolling over to breathe better seemed impossible, limbs already on their way into the grave. Vaguely, he heard it. A yowl was so outraged, so despairing, that his heartbeat skipped just a few more beats for it. Closing his eyes is the only reprieve, the one thing that felt productive at the moment. His mind was just static played on the movie screen, loud but strangely expected.

He felt tears prick his eyes as the scream faded further away.

The theatre went quiet, just in a brief moment, before memories shoved their way through...

 

_Eddie hacked into the pillow, curling up and hissing as each breath whipped his throat, making it burn and sting._

**_“Stupid human! I told you to not go hunt that Yewpo, I told you I couldn’t do anything about the sickness they inflict,”_ ** _Venom continued to huff, ruffled from dealing with the infection plaguing Eddie’s body and their partner’s difficult moods and spasms. The Yewpo, while relatively peaceful, had a knack for keeping grudges._

_The human race happened to be one of the few species that had pissed them off._

_So, they had come to return the punches dealt._

_Eddie had been stupid enough to volunteer himself up for being there if things went wrong. As such, Venom had barely found the right words to scold their partner when one of the Yewpo managed to sink their teeth straight past Venom’s body and inject their own venom into Eddie’s body. They hadn’t given Eddie any shielding from the nurses at HQ, refusing to explain the situation to them. The nurses had scolded him, sighting that as an older Men in Black operative he should know by now that you don’t go hunting something that your body is vulnerable against._

_“Buddy, listen. I hate it too, but at least we have a week off- ow!”_

_Eddie yelped as a tendril lashed against his back, Venom’s grinning visage now snarling at their host. **“Suck up your ego and listen to us for once! You. Are. Not. Invulnerable. When we warn you against something, we do not do so lightly,”** Venom growled, a clawed hand pressing Eddie’s face against the pillows, black talons digging into his scalp. Left breathless, Eddie barely nodded, licking his lips. _

**_“Now we are going to go make you chicken broth and you are going to sit there and enjoy it. You are not leaving this bed. We will look after you because-”_ **

_“I’m yours,” Eddie finished for Venom, rolling over to smile warmly at the alien that seemed taken aback, retreating as their form seemed to melt a little._

**_“Yes, Eddie. You’re mine. Always, Eddie, always… even when you’re an idiot.”_ **

_It was a gorgeous Monday evening._

_He’d planned it for two weeks, demanding it as an off day. It was only with a mention of two extra reports that Fury was swayed to give them the full 24 hours. Eddie was meticulous, combing through every detail to make sure that everything in the world lined up for him._

_The breeze wove its way through the fields, a hushed voice urging him onward. The sun was setting at the exact moment that the weather channel had provided for him- exactly 4 pm. Venom was languidly enjoying the ride, yet Eddie saw the flush of pinks and oranges, smelt the wildflowers starting to close their petals for the night, hearing sharp to the straying footsteps of deer._

_In every which way, they were entwined._

**_We should do this more often,_ ** _the voice was barely a scrape of sandpaper, hoarse with a side of fondness._

_“Yes, we should… Ah! Here’s the spot,” he grinned, settling down as the stalks flattened out into softer sprouts of grass. He flicked out the picnic blanket, checkered with deep red and black. Removing the seemingly endless sushi platters and lukewarm tater tots were the last reprieve Eddie would gain from this pause. Just like the food, Venom unfurled as the feast was laid before them, tongue lashing across their maw at the sight. As the symbiote coalesced into their bulky form, Eddie felt grateful for putting on a set of warm pyjamas before they left._

_With talons that could tear through to the bone, their fingers pinched a California roll between their nails, a pleased hum breaking the warm up from the cicadas. **“We should**_ **definitely _do this more often,”_** _Venom sighed, watching their host dip into the nigiri. They chuckled as he instantly made a mess with the soy sauce, the agent not minding the soy dripping down the rice. Eddie mimicked Venom’s hum, just a tad more muffled from the food in his mouth. He licked his fingers clean before going back for seconds, taking care to not soak the rice this time._

_“I’ll talk with Fury… maybe we could even leave the force at some point,” he mused, leaning back and popping tuna maki past his lips. Venom blinked in surprise, eyes widening as they crawled just a few centimetres closer. They took a moment to inhale three slices of sashimi, their host nearly choking on his own piece with the absurd sight._

**_“Do you mean that? Would you… would you leave even if we couldn’t come?”_ **

_The saccharine mood died as the sun disappeared over the horizon, leaving Eddie stunned for just a moment. Instantly, the symbiote took it as confirmation, their shoulders slumping._

**_“We understand-”_ **

_“God no-!”_

_Their gazes clashed, Eddie’s brows set while Venom’s ever-smiling mouth was pulled into a grimace._

_“_ God no _, Vee… I would never leave us like that- fuck, it would destroy me if I had to leave us behind,” he assured, scooting closer till he could rest his weight against the massive alien. Said alien froze up, shifting slightly as their miscalculation caused a flash of flamingo pink to obscure Eddie’s vision for a second._

**_“You’ve been kind to us, Eddie. As a host and friend… we don’t wish to push that kindness,”_ ** _they murmured, gaze fixated on the pile of ginger._

_They startled at the bark of laughter from the male, glancing down at Eddie’s sombre grin. “V, I’m a mess. A broken pile of mistakes… but you’re the first thing I want to truly get right,” he sighed. “We’ve been like this for two years, constantly sharing each other’s space… I don’t want that to change,” he reached for the tater tots, taking one to chew on as he thought. “We…_ I _want you… not for pity or for the power… I want you for_ us _,” he finished, blush only just visible in the dying light._

_“I never want our bond to leave. You fill so many holes I never even knew I had.”_

_Venom’s broad hand curled around his shoulder, the human relaxing into the touch._

**_“Many would have already tried to destroy us by now… You are one of the few who has asked us to stay,”_ ** _they murmured, taking a handful of potatoes to shove between their teeth._

_“So will you?”_

**_“Edward Charles Brock, we have denied hundreds of hosts such a pleasure… But for you? We will always say yes, always seek you out till neither of us can carry on. Until then, we are yours.”_ **

_Eddie’s smile lifted, no longer overcast with disapproval. He snorted, blinking down at his pants before turning to face Venom._

_“And until then, I am yours. Forever.”_

_Their teeth flashed in the dimming light, grin wide and dazzling._

**_“Yes, Eddie, you are_ mine _.”_**

_The movement was natural, a seal of approval that spoke volumes despite it being so painfully human._

_The kiss sparked up every colour Venom could imaging, their host gasping with the sensation of it. Such a spectacle curled the edges of their eyes, tongue slicking itself across Eddie’s lips. He laughed, leaning up to trail up to the maw of teeth and those every shifting eyes._

_“Dinner and then dessert?” he asked, gaze hazy in the flavours of carbon dust and a thick kaleidoscope firing off in his mind._

**_“As long as dessert entails you without these strings of cotton fibre, then yes. We do have extra energy to expend.”_ **

_A nightmare._

_It had to be._

_It couldn’t be real._

_This_ pain _couldn’t be real._

_Eddie felt like he was crawling on the last of his strength, eyes blurry. It was only when a hand jostled him and a familiar voice split the commotion that it all surged back to reality. He howled, barely stumbling to a stand to throw a punch. He clipped Fury in the jaw, vision mottled in shades of red and desperate blues._

_Yet those… those were his for once._

_He gasped, breathing in air that felt as thick as chlorine, stinging just as much._

_“What have you done? What did you_ do _?” he screamed, poised to take another swing before he was grappled. Even as his face was pressed down to the cold floor, he hissed and spat, his struggles dwindling. “Where are they- where is my_ darling _?_ ” _his voice caved the second his will did. A jackhammer had gone off in his chest, in every single space that Venom wasn’t, leaving cavities he couldn’t fill._

_Seven years… Seven years he’d spent loving and living with the symbiote._

_A wail seized up his throat, the onlooking agents turning their gazes from the desperation in his face._

_“Easy, boss, easy… this’ll be over soon,” Flash promised from behind him, Eddie belatedly realising that it was the younger’s knee that was shoved between his shoulder blades. He went limp, the split having drained him to the very sediment at the bottom of the cup, barely salvageable from such a fall. He wished he had struggled more, had pressed the court for a better ruling- fuck, he wished he’d spent more personal time with Venom, bought them more chocolate, held them for longer, stayed curled up with them-_

_“We’re ready.”_

_His eyes glanced up just as he was hauled to his feet, a snarl rising to the surface. Carlton Drake stood proudly, hair pulled back and jacket painfully pristine while Eddie slouched, barefoot in nothing but a tank top and loose pants. For just a moment, he managed to yank his hand from Flash’s grip, launching himself at the smug bastard. The only satisfaction he got was the flinch and shift in posture before Eddie’s apprentice restrained him once again._

_“For a man that was just removed of a parasite, you sure are lively, Mr. Brock,” Drake sneered, hands folding behind his back. Eddie stiffened, teeth bared and grin manic._

_“That_ parasite _will tear you to pieces when we reunite,” he growled, ignoring the tears that were still causing his lips to tremble. “In fact, we’ll tear you_ all _to pieces, hear me? We’ll kill you **all** ,” his voice cracked, teeth still painfully blunt and head empty. _

_Drake threw his head back and laughed._

_“You won’t remember us long enough for that,” he assured, having the arrogance to come close enough to pat him on the cheek. Luckily, said arrogance costed him a bite that sunk into his skin, blood spurting into Eddie’s mouth with a chuckle as the agent hastily retreated._

_“You better count on it, Carlton. You better_ fucking _count on it.”_

_And with that, Flash hauled him off, scolding him and trying to sooth his ruffled nerves as if his coffee had merely been done wrong or he’d flipped off an old lady. Eddie couldn’t find the energy to listen, blankly staring ahead, not risking a glance to Annie who trotted next to him. If her silence was anything to go by, he’d say that she was either beyond pissed or trying to not seem guilty- most likely it was both._

_His gaze remained glued to the floor, tears starting to drip down his cheeks once again. Like a parade, a fucking spectacle, stares weighted on his shoulders that sunk to the tiles, whispers instantly spreading across the entrance hall. In a way, it was a mercy to have the neuralisation chamber located right across from the interrogation room. Six of them trickled in, Flash carefully manhandling him into the spotless chair._

_Eddie just didn’t have the energy to fight it all._

_Yet, just as he reached to strap his left hand in, Flash got the shock of his life when Eddie’s fingers clasped over his wrist, yanking him closer. The telltale hiss of various plasma weapons singed the air, the younger feeling a sweat break out across his forehead._

_“Flash… please look after them- j-just make sure they’re happy,” the whisper was solemn, resigned. Flash could only close his eyes and nod._

_“I promise.”_

_It seemed like that was enough for his mentor, relaxing back into the chair and letting him finish without a breath in the wrong direction. As he stood back, Eddie observed the people lining the walls, glasses obscuring their eyes while the suits made them seem identical. Even so… he could see Annie worrying her lip and Fury’s eyebrows furrowed to the point where they met. Flash’s hands trembled and Drake barely bit back a smug smirk._

_For just a moment, he mulled over the last words Venom had barely shoved through his mind before their screams had become split into human and symbiote._

**We love you… both of you. Sleeper would have had a good dad.**

_He can’t bite back the tears now._

_He’d let down one of the good things that had come his way._

_He’d fucked it up, the old Brock way- entirely._

_Opening his eyes to the gradually brightening fluorescent lights, Eddie barely saw it._

_A flicker, a broken memory that was trying to reemerge._

_“You fucker-!”_

_Everything faded to static, including the sliver of iron and white in Carlton’s suit._

 

_It’s pouring, but Venom came prepared._

_They let the rain wash over their hide while the Princess delicately treads the rooftops of San Francisco. They are her personal escort and transport. She murmurs about the noise, the lights and the general bustle of a well-lived city._

_“It’s extraordinary that humans have come this far,” she muses a sly smile on her lips._

_Venom chuckles, patting their chest. **“You should see Eddie, he’s tiny! Gets more bruises from tripping on his own feet than in fights,”** they say, pausing every few moments to scent out the area. In the rain like this, it’s impossible to gather every single one, let alone a distant rival. So far, they had been lucky. _

_“I’d love to meet him! Is he…?”_

**_“Yes. He’s asleep right now. Spent all night doing papers,”_ ** _they state, glancing about. They’re anxious about being out in the open, but cruisers cannot fly this low. Hell knows what it will do to every nuance in citizens’ lives. They shepherd her in front of them, just in time to watch a lance pierce straight through her torso, grabbing uselessly at her arm as she collapses._

**_“Thiern!”_ ** _they don’t get another step before a spear of their own is jutting out of their chest. Being a symbiote has its perks, like being able to withstand such a blow. Yet, it's not the wound that makes them stumble._

_It’s the weapon._

_They’ve known this sleek material for centuries, decades, maybe even longer…_

_Riot had always held a grudge against them for their supposedly ‘frivolous’ ways. Claimed they needed to harden up. They are greeted with the imposing figure that stoops down to the princess, brushing her hair away from her pastel purple horns._

**_“Step away, Riot,”_ ** _they hiss, yanking out the spike and brandishing it. The elder has the audacity to laugh at them._

**_“Still meddling in human affairs? Knull awaits, Venom. You cannot truly be a heretic? Even your lower class knows that all will answer to God’s calls,”_ ** _he supplies as if Venom hasn’t heard it echoing in the hive mind for millennia._

**_“You are the blind prophet, Riot. Leave, before we properly dispatch you.”_ **

_The symbiote blinked at him before sighing, standing straight. **“Very well, have it your way,”** he groused just before yanking the blade from the princess’s body, blood seeping into the gravel._

_A hiss follows, and the sound similar to a gun going off pierces their ears. Belatedly, they see the shimmering purple spear embedded in their chest, the potent scent of lavender instantly swarming their senses._

_Venom dreams of the abyss…_

_Dreams of Eddie and lavender…_

_Yet awakes to a nightmare._

_With barely an assurance that they were innocent._

 

Stark darkness greeted him.

The stars weren’t speckled with travelled galaxies tonight. There were no nebulas that Venom was encouraging him to explore. There were no dreams of a family circulating between them.

It was Eddie alone.

Groaning seemed too hard, breath barely even.

Even so, he twitched his fingers as he felt something roil under the pads.

Then it was in his skin, dipping into it with a familiar weight.

Suddenly, gasping seemed necessary.

He hacked, rolling onto his side as blood was shoved up and out of his lungs, eyes screwed shut as he struggled not to throw up along with it.

**plese do nt**.

He frowned, eyes blinking rapidly at the voice. The cavities that were aching just a second ago felt like fresh dirt had just filled them up halfway. The outpour of pain mixed with heartache was enough to drain his energy. Closing his eyes only flashed those faded memories, eyes blurred from tears and exhaustion.

_Who are you? Who am I?_ He asked, legs splayed out as he contemplated the growing hopelessness that weighed down his calves.

**we… dnt kow- you, thogh… yo u seem fami lir**

“I don’t understand… are you just delusions? Am I dead?” He continued to ask, head lolling from side to side as he struggled to clear the bumble of memories that threatened to shove him back under.

It was then that a gorgeous burst of shy violet and alarmed orange sprang across his vision.

**we- we hop e  we aren t. we hope _you_ arent.**

Eddie sat up abruptly, breath coming out in huffs as he traced a hand over his blood soaked shirt. The wound was gone. Even so, the skin was knotted, tackily patched up out of panic. He stared ahead, mind whirring as he tried to recall why this voice was so important. A tendril, no bigger than his pinky, peeked from his wrist, curling over his fingers.

**sca red. I’m scared.**

He choked, grasping the sliver to his chest as if he could hide it from the world.

“I know, Sleeper. So am I,” he assured, pressing a kiss to the tiny symbiote.

That lime green was familiar, a vague whisper from Venom’s previous parting. He remembered sitting in silence, letting the other describe all that they could about their growing child. Every detail down to how they shimmered under UV light and their possible colours.

The baby squeezed back, a flood of blues and nauseating greens making Eddie’s stomach churn.

“Love you so much, god, I- I never thought I’d see you,” he sniffed, stumbling to his feet, despite how they trembled. There was a trill in the back of his mind, a gentle nudge to keep him going.

**mis other.**

He nodded feverishly, clutching his head as it spun. He shivered from head to toe as his whole nervous system suddenly relaxed. God, it was even more potent than when Venom played with his chemicals and muscles. “Same here, Sleep,” he mumbled, a smile too much of a struggled to dredge up. He only noticed that the symbiote had creeped up his arms when his palm connected with the trunk of a tree. He blinked in surprise, running morphing claws up the smooth midnight black, pausing at when they met with slashes of lime. They seemed to battle with keeping a solid form, claws uneven and constantly shifting.

**sorry… too n ew, dont un- unders tand yet,** Sleeper’s voice near crooned, yet the thick lash of sunny orange betrayed the growing anxiety. **didn t learn e nough-**

“No, no… you came out perfect,” he mumbled, stroking his own arms to try calm the child. “You came out so beautiful,” he continued, hardly able to stop himself from just breaking down. The swirling hybrid stilled, retaining its form before it receded entirely from his arms only to cover his legs up to the waist. He sniffled, a wheeze of a laugh passing out his lips.

“That’s it… don’t need much more. Now, should we go save your other parent?”

**we wou ld love to.**

 

The run was exhilarating.

Sleeper seemed to be unaffected by the oxygen in the air, merely complaining about the pollution and how excited they was to see Venom again. It was the first time Eddie had complete reign in their rooftop escapades, leaping from one building to another. In the short time that they had been bonded, they were already starting to get a grip on how to cover more of his body. They could manage his arms and legs, creeping up by absorbing whatever their father’s body gave them.

**Getting better at speech,** they piped up, storing any energy they had left after hastily patching up their host. Eddie chuckled, grasping onto an alley wall before sliding down the gutter and onto the rancid ground. He sprinted out, the doors of HQ looming in front of the pair.

“Look at you getting better each minute,” he praised, enjoying the purr that rattled along his spine. He grinned as he shoved open the doors, barely offering a tilt of his head to the doorman. Yet, as he came to the elevator, his whole body seized up.

_“In fact, we’ll tear you_ all _to pieces, hear me? We’ll kill you **all** ”_

**papa?** The symbiote whispered as if they could be heard, Eddie’s hands curling into fists. Like caustic acid, Sleeper’s claws burrowed into the metal with little prying needed. His mind brimmed with battered red, stepping into the elevator despite the worrisome ringing. He flinched as his head swam, the symbiote practically incapacitated by the sound.

“We’ll get what we want, honey, don’t worry,” he tried, the child taking over for a moment to punch the siren blaring out overhead. “You’ll learn about the number one lesson tonight… how to hunt,” he snarled, stepping towards the glass, eyes narrowed at the halls lined with agents and aliens that stood by at his prosecution.

“We won’t let Drake get away- none of them will,” he assured, not bothering to ask Sleeper to hide themselves as they arrived at the bottom. As he stepped out, he was greeted with shocked expressions, all commotion pausing as he stormed into the space, commanding it with practiced ease. Yet he faltered when he was smacked with a realisation that was then overridden with a collective yell.

_How am I going to find out where Drake went-?_

“Eddie?” The cacophony of so many dialects and volumes made Eddie’s head ring, momentarily distracted by a mixture of Sleeper’s panic and his own frazzled thoughts. A smile and wave seemed to sait the species lining the hall.

Digging about in his mind was not a good idea. It was already too unstable for him to search. “Hey, kiddo… think you can help me here?” he asked, hands clenching and unclenching with restless energy, settling the symbiote by stroking the surface rippling over his arms. The next moment he was swamped with scents, some so foreign that he momentarily stumbled with the intensity. He didn’t have time to decipher each one! Every colour burned to look at, brain starting to clog up with the whistle of someone on the third floor or the shuffle of ooze on the ground-

Sleeper abruptly cut it off, Eddie’s heart panging as he saw how they seeped from his arms, sinking into his body once again.

“I shouldn’t have pushed you- god, I’m so sorry, Sleep-”

**to o  much. even f or us… need direc tin.**

Eddie blinked, mind pinging off with ideas as to what Drake smelt like, _tasted_ like. “Uh, um, how about this?” he attempted to remember the smell, imagining the scent in the back of his throat, how he’d gag on it each time the man passed him in the halls.

**d ont know smel l… another**

Sleeper hadn’t been exposed to the world, had only just woken up to a dying parent and expended themselves to heal said parent. However…

“Look for Venom! Drake will have them,” he exclaimed, not bothering with the stares that refused to peel away from him. Others had moved on, but some were still skirting around him or watching him warily. The gorgeous burst of warmth in his chest was a clear affirmative. For just a second, the scents pounded at his skull, sounds, sight and everything in between aching with the strain. Then there was a hit of gasoline and seasalt, lined with something like cedarwood. Breathing it in, Sleeper seemed to sooth, a low purr sounding in his nose and lungs.

Yet, it was snapped away when someone slammed into his side, squeezing their arms around him. He blinked, Sleeper momentarily dripping off of him in shock.

“For _fucks sake!_ Don’t you ever, _ever_ , scare me like that,” Flash heaved out, grasping onto him like a lifeline. He pulled away ever so slightly to fuss over him, eyes blowing out at the fissure of scars along his chest.

“I- um… how did I scare you?” He asked cautiously, patting the younger’s back as he attempted to control the surge of emotions and feelings from the flashbacks. Even though this man had forced him into the neuraliser, he had looked after Venom while Eddie was out of action. He had sacrificed a lot for the two of them and not even the blinding rage could quell that bond they shared.

“Agent D- Carlton went out to look for you, but he came in with Venom, claiming you’d _died_. I- I didn’t believe him until I heard them… they were screaming, so terrified- I haven’t seen them like that since…” Flash trailed off, pulling away as he recovered, wiping at his cheeks.

“Since you tore us apart and neuralised me?” Eddie stated bluntly, enjoying the horror that seeped into Flash’s expression. For a moment, the memory of stolen toffees and sheepish smiles surfaced.

“H-how do you…?”

“Having your body mate torn from you and then being impaled seemed to do the trick,” he huffed, Sleeper roiling at the thought, Eddie surprised to feel the young symbiote hiss at the insinuation that he could have died. As the agent stared back at him, he merely skirted around Flash, resuming his path of revenge. That was what snapped the man out of his stupor, mouth snapping shut as he rushed after Eddie.

“Wait, wait, then if Venom _was_ in that container, then who is-?”

“Meet Sleeper. They’re my child,” he answered, not stopping to watch the other continue to gape and splutter at the simple fact.

“As in both of you did actually have sex?!” Flash screeched, drawing unwanted stares from many bewildered employees. Eddie spun around on his heel, gaze unsteady as he held up a finger for silence, a blush erupting across his cheeks.

“Not in front of the kid, Flash!” he hissed, a spark of questions filtering into his mind. He batted each of them off with vague answers, maintaining his scowl which was occasionally tossed Flash’s way. “When… when were you going to tell me?” he asked, shouldering past the elephant that lingered in the few centimeters between them. Judging by how the younger’s shoulders slipped, posture faltering, the topic had been stifling him for some time.

“How do you even start?” he replied, catching each other’s haggard gaze. The blue contrasted well with the flaxen strands and blood-shot corners of his eyes. Eddie doubted he looked any better. “How do I begin to tell someone that their lover was ripped from them on a biased case, that their lover was even an _alien_ to start with,” he sighed, Eddie entering an elevator, Flash trailing after him. He raised an eyebrow as the elder crouched and fucking _sniffed_ at the panels.

Clearly, Eddie had finally lost his fucking marbles.

Even so, Eddie straightened and pressed for the basement floor. “That’s fair… thank you… for looking after them,” Eddie murmured, leaning against the wall for support. Sleeper curiously tapped at the mirrors, fascinated with both their appearance and their father’s, watching the light flicker over their form. The agent snorted, regret festering his previously curious expression.

“The least I could do was preserve that part of your life, Ed…” he exhaled, gathering himself as he glanced back at the control panel. “Why are we going to the basement?” He asked, mind whirring.

“You need to suit up and I need to get my darling back,” he said, shoving open the doors to push into the hallway. Flash frowned, clapping a hand on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Wait, wait- you haven’t even told me _why_ yet,” he hissed, irritation crossing his brow.

“Y-you don’t know?” Eddie questioned, grimacing when Flash shook his head. “Drake is Riot’s host,” he stated, the shock freezing the younger in place.

“H-how?”

“I don’t know… but I have a hunch- actually more of a memory. Princess Thiern died by a symbiote’s hand, but not Venom’s,”  he stated, nodding to the left. “I’m going to find Drake,” he said, patting Flash’s shoulder. He didn’t get to sprint after lingering salt, however. A hand was quick to catch his collar, yanking him back.

“Uh uh. Venom may be your… lover, but I’m your apprentice,” Flash scolded, Eddie failing to break the younger man’s grip. “And you aren’t going in alone… What can I do?” he asked, the man’s face filling out with a smirk. The burst of pride in Eddie’s chest was unexpected, but looking at how that scrawny guy had grown into a hard hitter, a person to depend on… to have a hand in on it was an honour.

“If you’re going to be stubborn… get Anti-Venom. I suspect that Riot will have his cronies here with him.”

Flash nodded, finally letting go of Eddie. He instantly bolted after the wandering smell, Sleeper preeing at the sense of gratification rushing through his mind. Despite the lack of memories, he knew these corridors well, stampeding closer and closer to his goal.

Sleeper’s enhanced legs pushed Eddie to the limit. Yet he had to slam into a few walls to stop with the speed and power behind the inexperienced symbiote. The kid didn’t seem to have the same degree of control that Venom had, let alone the intuition to be careful with their host’s body. Even so, for one sweaty, bruised host, they managed to come to a complete halt in front of the last person Eddie wanted to see.

Anne.

She had known of his relationship with Venom, yet she had still chased a romance with him. In a way, he wondered if those feelings had even been real. The memories had felt so tangible, alive and realistic in a way that scared him. Was she genuinely interested in him the whole time or was it merely a cover up she was forced to play? Even so, she had done her best to help them, battled for their release and attempted to sway the judge. There was no doubt that Drake had swayed the tide to try gain the upper hand. Ironically he had only screwed himself over.

But did he forgive her?

Did she even forgive him?

“Eddie, why are you here? Is Venom alright, they don’t look good- and your shirt!” her foot tapped impatiently as she spoke, something clearly bothering her.

“I… Annie, I remember _everything_. Venom and I, the neuralising, what happened to the princess- all of it,” he rushed the presentation, yet it was a hushed confession, eyes having trailed to the floor. Her whole body locked up, posture as frozen as a statue’s.

“But I also remember what I did to _you_ , those memories of college, of restaurants and proposing… of tanking our relationship,” a tendril soothed over his clenched fists, Sleeper prying them apart to slip into his grip and clutch his pinky.

“Just… I need to know. Were you… were you jealous? Is- is that why you don’t like Venom and I-?”

She came alive, launching herself at him, nails digging into his top as she squeezed him tightly. He paused before hesitantly wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder. His shoulders began to shake, knees trying to give despite Sleeper’s persistence. He could feel her shoulders tremble against his cheek.

“God damnit, Eddie… you mess. You big, stupid, humble mess,” she cried, patting his sweat slicked hair. “I… I did care for you, Ed. I thought it was more, thought I could maybe just help you- but god…” she sniffed and pulled back, tucking her hair behind her ear and pressing her hand to her lips. Eddie mimicked her sniffles, a choke of a laugh wheezing past his throat when Sleeper formed a shaky hand to knit with his.

“I loved you both- I-I hated what they did to you, thought I could give you a second chance… but I couldn’t keep my distance. Then you came and offered me your umbrella in the rain and your _smile_. I hadn’t seen you smile like that in years,” she was shaking her head, a grin hardly hidden behind her hand.

He nodded, the last few tears dripping off his cheeks as his lips pulled upwards.

“I… I’m so glad you don’t hate me,” he murmured, squeezing his eyes shut as months of relief washed over his bare heart. She laughed, patting his wet cheek.

“You’re oddly difficult to hate. A bit endearing mixed with stubborn, I’d say,” she said, stepping back to take a proper look at him. Her eyes widened, hand brushing over the new scaring peeking through his torn shirt.

“How did that happen? Why didn’t Venom-?”

“Riot is using Drake as a host. He tore them off of me and tried to kill me,” he growled, mood darkening with reds that seeped into the mix of pinks. Anne’s own expression became laced with fury, her foot suddenly ceasing.

“I always knew he was trouble. Too cunning for everyone’s well being,” she snarled, glancing about, biting at her lips again.

“Annie, I need you to alert Fury, get him to start evacuation and maybe call for reinforcements,” he stated, pausing as the command caught up.

She snorted at his surprised expression, tilting her head and saluting. “Sure, Agent B… glad to have you back,” she mused, breaking off at a run, the click-clack of her heels fading down the hall.

Even though he was alone, Eddie couldn’t have felt more supported in his life.

 

Following the phantom smell of gritty ocean waves led them to a massive vault. It easily towered over them, ending Sleeper’s questions about Annie and proclamations that she was very nice.

**reall y nice. Gave ma ny chocolat es- wait is th is it?**

Eddie paused, lips tightening into a snarl, the space suddenly filling with other scents. A mingling of blood and bone, smoke that sought to choke anyone who inhaled it. He glanced at the intercom sitting next to the door, brows furrowing as he looked over the numbers and letters.

**try 1 2 3 4** , Sleeper chipped in, tendrils raising to promptly attempt the code. However, their father was quick to say no, deciding to instead occupy his child with his many bracelets. Venom would have sealed off Knull with something that they only knew, that would make it near impossible to decipher. Looking at the mottled black and green tendrils, his fingers keyed in the letters.

S L E E P E R

Pressing enter proved successful by the shudder of the building as the interior shifted to the correct room.

He smiled, running a hand over the black ink that danced with the jangle of his bracelets. They were both too soppy to not keep their first child’s name as a secret password- despite everything, Eddie’s cheeks went a shocking pink at the thought. _No, focus. We can think of more children later_. Sleeper’s prodding was luckily steered away from his thoughts, the child far too enraptured by the leather chords.

The two of them burst into the room as they yanked open the vault door, Sleeper creeping up to Eddie’s shoulders and just covering the lower portion of his chest. Even then, he felt the hefty weight of a tongue in his mouth and rows of razor blades against his gums.

“Drake!”

The hulking mass of Riot turned, their expression genuinely shocked as a supposedly walking corpse strolled inside. Then their maw parted in that crescent moon of a grin.

**“I can smell it on you- weak and pitiful. I’m surprised that you both survived,”** the symbiote brought their hands together in a round of applause, slow and patronising. **“A disgusting union, really… but at least one thorn in my side is taken care of,”** Riot sneered, stalking closer as the father-son duo stood their ground.

“I’m not stupid, where is Venom? You can’t have gotten in without **t hem** ,” Eddie hissed, voice clipping with Sleeper’s limited speech. The uproarious laughter had their ears ringing, Sleeper hissing at the sound.

**“You truly want the answer? Fine. We absorbed them after they became useless to us,”** Riot spoke calmly as if he had merely had a piece of bread to chew on. And just for that second, Eddie’s world shattered. Yet it’s the overwhelming sense of despair that crashes onto his already drenched mind that truly shifts the tides.

**“You are lying.”**

Riot pauses, frowning at the pair. **“What? Miss your bitch of a parent?”**

Sleeper looks at those shattered pieces, ponders the memories that are so jumbled, and picks them up. They cast out their senses, the smells condensed in such a small area. Even so, picking out the familiar from the foreign proves to be something like second nature. It’s there, lingering but still fresh.

**“There’s time. May we-?”**

_Go to town._

For the first time in their life, Sleeper smiles.

They devourer most of Eddie’s liver, nibbling on a lung in the process. Quite suddenly, the surge of energy brings them to full morph, covering their father in silken tendrils, building in height till they match that of Riot. Breathing in tastes of morphine, serotonin, the oxygen and carbon dioxide. The nuances that they could change.

**“Child, I will shred you to pieces,”** he chuckles, posture relaxed.

A tweak here, a tweak there…

**“We know. However, you can’t if you’re asleep,”** they muse, stepping towards the elder, exhaling the new concoction weighing in their lungs. Eddie quietly beams with pride, yet that anxious energy still grows ever larger in their shared minds. Riot stumbles, shaking his head in a daze. His lips pulled back in a snarl, head swivelling to the tank embedded in the wall. He parts his jaws and lets loose a howl.

**_um… can’t make i t any str onger…_ **

_Let me take care of this one, kiddo… sit back and relax. Let your pa do the pummeling._

Being in complete control was not a preferred feeling, especially since his chest was still aching from the puncture and Venom’s absence. _Come on, darling… hang in there_. It was wishful thinking, but without it, he would have been bleeding out in the forest. Being on an even playing field would at least give him a fighting chance.

Eddie roared, instantly grappling with the bulkier symbiote. Riot was quick to slice at his jaw, clipping it and shaving off a decent chunk of skin. He screeched and sunk his teeth into the elder’s arm, tearing out a good chunk of flesh. While Sleeper’s mouth didn’t stretch as wide as Venom’s, their grin was satisfying all the same. Before he knew it, the symbiote’s substance was sliding down his throat, Sleeper instantly processing the nutrients.

To say the least, Riot wasn’t pleased about that.

His maw snapped at their throat, Eddie quick to back them up, tendrils lashing about in the air. As he charged them once again, Sleeper took him straight on, starting to enjoy the excitement of battle. Riot grew further frustrated when chemicals flooded the air, causing a shot of confusion and fear to light up the area. Eddie took the distraction to dig their claws into the mask of the creature that had stolen his love from him twice.

Despite the fact that Riot’s talons tore right through Sleeper and into Eddie’s wrists, that bubbling rage that had been stewing for years and _years_ blew its top, and nothing was going to stop him now. The lime green contrasted perfectly with Drake’s cinnamon complexion, savouring the petrified expression on his face. Eddie was pretty sure he was begging, judging by how rapidly his lips were moving.

Sleeper peeled back, each tooth perfectly aligned with the next, one neat row that circled Eddie’s face. “See, Agent D, we know of your gradually worsening condition and the symbiote’s influence on your mental health,” he recited, beaming at Drake’s gradually paling skin. “So we may just need to… return the favour,” he stated, squeezing the man’s throat. In fact, he was pretty sure he heard a nice pop. “Since you clearly can’t remember the details of _that_ night, we’ll just have to punish you accordingly,” he continued to pull apart Riot, grinning as Carlton suddenly let out a scream.

They made the process tedious, searching and searching for any sign of Venom. Whenever they grew tired or bored, they’d either take a piece from Riot or Drake. The blood singing on their tongue was shockingly cathartic as they began to dig deeper into the symbiote that they managed to incapacitate after putting enough stress on Riot’s body.

Yet every passing second, they grew more panicked.

They resorted to practically excavating Riot’s body, the smoke overpowering any whiff of sea salt that had lingered before.

**ca n t  sme l l  the m,** they whined, form starting to come apart, any sort of composure they had held fading away. Eddie nodded rapidly, ignoring the cuts from Sleeper’s teeth, trying not to inhale too much of the pheromones and chemical mixes.

“You can’t do this to me, you _loser_! You can’t just give me a child and die, it’s not fair. Come on, come on, honey, you’ve gotta- you’ve gotta be here,” he rambled, looking for any sliver of black and grey. Eventually even Drake’s hoarse crying and yelling grew irritating.

**“N ot s urpri sed,”** Riot’s mauled visage was barely discernible, something Eddie was glad for. **“Cou ldn’ t ev en m a ke it thi s far.”**

He looked up, claws poised to wipe that face from the universe-

Opalescent.

So many unexplored colours and memories.

And Riot deserved _none_ of them.

Eddie plunged Sleeper’s tendrils into the elder’s eyes, tearing out the sheet that shone, watching the symbiote stretch before snapping back, black strands weaved in between the threads. He choked, holding onto that hope as he tore whatever he could from Riot’s head, peeling bit by bit till there was a little blob of the abyss he wished to sink into for years to come.

It didn’t take long for two white eyes to appear, clearly dazed and absolutely exhausted. Sleeper instantly scooped up the weak symbiote, feeding Venom trimmings courtesy of Riot and Drake, the latter having finally bled out.

Eddie pressed his forehead to the other’s, letting a moment of weakness pass over him, tears dripping down his cheeks.

A voice, clearly not befitting its size, echoed in every corner of the space.

**“Hello, Eddie…”**

 

 

Grumbling into his pillow, Eddie blearily opened his eyes to be dazzled by the sun streaming through the window. Even so, he didn’t have the heart to move.

Dylan was softly snoring next to him, Sleeper idly playing with the throw pillows. For a being that was stuck between being a toddler and deadly predator, Eddie thought that Sleeper had turned out pretty well as a first child. Dylan was a runaway from an orphanage, having bumped into them while trying to steal some chips. He’d taken pity on the boy and decided to foster him, only to adopt 2 weeks later.

**You make a great dad.**

And of course, he finally had the love of his life.

It had taken a while to get back on his feet, but Eddie found himself more than just enjoying life. His early retirement was well deserved, according to Flash, and he couldn’t have wished for a better ending. Turns out, the rogue symbiotes had stormed the building while he and Sleeper had been dealing with Riot. Flash had become their only true line of defence, that is until Anne managed to get into the weapons facility with the help of Dan Lewis. Riot, while having meticulously in planning, never seemed to account for his own pride- becoming arrogant enough to pin humans as an easy target.

He shifted his arm, Sleeper curling tendrils around his wrist and ankle. Unfortunately, that was enough to wake Dylan. Without Sleeper, Eddie had no clue how Dylan would sleep.

“Hmm… dad? What time is it?” Dylan mumbled, rubbing at his eyes and glancing about at the room like it was the first time he’d seen it.

“8:30,” he replied, yawning. Instantly, the rest of the family caught it, Venom’s jaw neatly unhinging.

“Are we gonna go running on the beach?” the boy continued, shifting to try wiggle closer for warmth, despite the growing heat that seemed laser-focused on San Francisco. He nodded, chuckling as Dylan whined, Sleeper dispelling what they liked to call a “calm cloud.”

“It won’t be long… and I promise you we’ll go get ice-cream,” he grinned, receiving a grunt of approval.

**You spoil him.**

_I thought we established that I tend to spoil the people I love._

“Anne and Flash let me sleep in more,” Dylan tried, legs restlessly tapping against Eddie’s knee. Every few weeks, he’d meet some of his old colleagues and friends. It was a blessing to have them over, considering Dylan paired with an alien toddler was a combination that could grow too cumbersome for both of them, even with Venom’s seemingly endless limbs.

“That’s your treat for when they come over, and those toffees,” he noted, ruffling Dylan’s hair and getting up, despite the kid’s complaints. “Come on, we need to go while the sun’s still a bit low. How about on the way back, we pick a movie for tonight?”

“As long as you’ll finish telling me how you met Vee.”

“Sure. It’s a deal.”

 

 


End file.
